David Gareja & Sighnaghi — Day Trip

Hewn straight into the cliffs of the Georgia-Azerbaijan borderlands, David Gareja is a 6th-century cave monastery complex founded by St. David, one of the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers. Its rock-cut caves survived centuries of invasions and still shelter ancient frescoes, while Orthodox monks continue to tend the site today. We'll explore the Lavra Monastery's frescoed cave church, climb to the Udabno caves for sweeping views, and take in a stark desert landscape unlike anywhere else in Georgia.

A walled hilltop town in Kakheti's wine country, Sighnaghi keeps one of Georgia's best-preserved fortress walls, whose 23 towers look out over the vineyard-covered Alazani Valley toward the Caucasus. Walk the ramparts, taste qvevri wine made the ancient way at Pheasant's Tears, and see Niko Pirosmani's paintings in the town museum. Nearby Bodbe Monastery holds the tomb of St. Nino, drawing pilgrims to its hillside gardens.

A short drive from Sighnaghi, Bodbe Monastery holds the tomb of St. Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia in the 4th century; the church standing today goes back to the 9th. Walk the rose gardens, take in the wide Alazani Valley views, and follow the path down to St. Nino's Spring, long visited for its healing waters. The small monastery museum fills in the rest of this enduring pilgrimage site.