15/05/2024
#давидгареджийский #монастырьдавидагареджи #турыпогрузии #кахетия
David Gareja is a complex of cave monasteries created in the 6th century. It is located on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border for 25 kilometers along the slopes of the desert (or, sometimes they write, semi-desert) Gareji ridge. One part of it is located on the territory of Azerbaijan, the other on the territory of Georgia, and therefore the territorial dispute between these states does not subside.
The complex includes about two dozen monasteries, but this is not in the sense of existing religious communities, but in the sense of buildings and structures. These are more than a hundred caves carved into the mountains, as well as dozens of human-built structures, some of which are ruins.
Once all the monasteries were active, but now only two monasteries are active - the Lavra of David and Natlismtsmeli.
The first monastery of David-Gareja was the Lavra of David, founded in the mid-6th century by David of Gareja. He received his nickname from the name of the place where he settled with his student Lucian. He is considered one of the thirteen Syrian or Assyrian fathers.
Gradually, people began to gather around David. He gained followers and students who began to settle next to him. They carved caves for themselves in the sandstone rocks near the Cave of David or in other places. The Church of the Transfiguration was built, where David was later buried. During David’s lifetime, his two disciples Dodo and Lukin founded two more monasteries nearby: the Dodo Branch (Dodos-Rka), dedicated to the Mother of God, and St. John the Baptist (Natlismtsmeli). The latter is located 10 kilometers from the Lavra of David.
In the 9th century, to the south of the monastery, that is, higher up the slope, cells, a church and a refectory were built (carved into the rock). The Church of the Transfiguration was also rebuilt and expanded.
It is believed that in the 11th-13th centuries David-Gareja reached its greatest prosperity.