A male monastic house dedicated to David Garejeli. Udabno is Georgian for a desert house: the word describes monasteries set apart from villages, in dry or upland places where life is built around solitude. David Garejeli is one of the thirteen Assyrian Fathers with whom tradition links the beginning of Georgian monasticism.
The house lies in the hills west of the town of Dmanisi, among bare slopes reached by a turning off the district road. It is important not to confuse addresses here: this is not the Gareja cave complex on the Kakhetian border that tour buses reach from Tbilisi. The dedication is the same, but Gareja lies more than a hundred kilometres to the east. The century of foundation is unknown.
The usual monastic rules apply: covered shoulders and knees, a headscarf and skirt for women, voices kept low. The first half of the day is the better time to come, since monastic life follows its own order and is not arranged around visitors.
⛪ For pilgrims
- A male house dedicated to David Garejeli, one of the Assyrian Fathers
- The hills west of Dmanisi, reached by a turning off the district road
- Udabno means a desert house, a monastery away from dwellings
🚗 Getting there
- Landmark - the hills west of the town of Dmanisi; the turning leaves the district road away from the village
- A route is built with the Build Route button
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