Richard And Jo Demeester's photos with the keyword: David Gareja

Another angle on this beautiful monastery. The little caves running up the back are where the monks live.

This ridge defines part of the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan. An ancient tower looks down to the plains that are unseen in this picture but are laid out to the left of our point of view. The mountains and ridges to the right, behind the tower, are in Georgia.

The frescoes here date from the 11th century, although the caves were used as part of the monastery complex for many centuries before that. These are part of the Udabno cave monastery, part of Davit Gareja. Monks would eat here, kneeling at the long stone benches.

The view in to Lavra Monastery as we ascended the hill rising behind it.

This shot takes in a lot of the Georgian side, and is an attempt to capture a bit of the amazing geology and geography that is evident on that side of the border.

Abandoned during the Soviet Era, and now recently re-inhabited by a small group of monks and priests who are ensuring it will continue to be a place of holiness as it has been for over a millennium already.

Spring is coming, and the first blossoms are breaking forth. Near the border of Azerbaijan, the semi arid desert can still support flocks of sheep and goats, though fairly sparsely. The interesting striated rocks that you can see here run in perfect parallels, stretching for a dozen or more kilometres out.