# Vanis Kvabebi
- URL: https://explore-georgia.ge/en/places/vanis-kvabebi
- Type: place to visit
- Region: Samtskhe-Javakheti
- Coordinates: 41.381667, 43.306389

Vanis Kvabebi, called the Vahani Caves in historical sources, is cut into the right bank of the upper Mtkvari in historical Samtskhe. Up to 200 caves cut in the rock are arranged on 16 levels. The cells, laid out in terraces in an oval hollow of the cliff, are fortified by a wall of stone and mortar and form a closed inner courtyard in front of the monastery. The wall is about 100 metres long and had two gates, a large one and a small one. Outside it, on a terrace, an oval tower has been found that was part of a complex defensive work guarding the approaches to the wall.

The monastery includes rock-cut rooms and storerooms, burial chapels, an ossuary, a refuge, passage tunnels and 6 churches. At its centre is the domed church of Saint George with a carved porch of stone and mortar and a two-storey burial chapel; under the porch is an ossuary cave, and carved pieces of the chancel screen and ornamented stones of the belfry were found here. North of the porch, on the same terrace, is a hall church of stone and mortar, and below, on the terraces of the left wing of the ensemble, cave tombs and stone houses are arranged on three levels. Remains of 3 water conduits and a reservoir survive, along with fragments of wall painting and important historical inscriptions. Excavations uncovered a wine cellar with eight qvevri, a workshop for glazed pottery, a rock-cut wine press with a small water conduit and 2 stone houses.

Among the monks' cells are both the oldest dwelling caves typical of a desert hermitage and later rock dwellings suited to communal monastic life, with service rooms. The architecture of Vanis Kvabebi is a transitional monument of rock architecture: through the gradual development of its caves it prepares the forms that took shape at Vardzia in the twelfth–thirteenth centuries. Excavations also brought to light works of twelfth-century Georgian repoussé metalwork, among them 3 silver bowls, and west of Vanis Kvabebi, in a small church of the hermit period, fragments of thirteenth-century wall painting survive.

## History

Vanis Kvabebi was founded in the age of the desert hermits: the oldest group of caves, which includes a church, dates from no later than the eighth century. In the ninth–eleventh centuries the hermitage grew, and the church of Saint George and new groups of cave cells were cut at its centre. In 1089 a strong earthquake destroyed the central part of Vanis Kvabebi together with the church. In the twelfth century, until 1191, it was the family monastery of the feudal house of Gurgenisdze: in 1186–1191 its owner Ichkit Gurgenisdze renewed the monastery, restored the church of Saint George and adorned it with precious icons, built a family burial chapel beside it and set an inscription recording his work at both entrances. From 1191 to 1204 the monastery was in royal hands; in the reign of Tamar (1184–1213) the rebuilding of Vanis Kvabebi began, and in 1204 Anton Chqondideli, the chief of the royal scribes, restored the old wall of stone and mortar.

From 1204 to 1283 Vanis Kvabebi belonged to the feudal family of the Tmogveli. Between 1204 and 1234 they gave the monastery a new rule, The Rule of the Vahani Caves. It regulates the monks' life, the sharing of food, discipline and punishments, and provides for 51 monks and 10 servants. In 1265–1283 the Tmogveli built the porch of the church of Saint George, the belfry and a hall church. The earthquake of 1283 destroyed Vanis Kvabebi again; excavations have uncovered skeletons of its victims.

Monastic life revived here in the fourteenth–sixteenth centuries. In the second half of the fifteenth century women who had taken refuge in the monastery left inscriptions in ink, in Mkhedruli script, on the walls of a small church built into the rock on the top level. Among them are Gulkani, Ana Rcheulishvili, Tumian Gojishvili and her sister Shaghaban Sultani. The inscriptions show that the women were brought here by force and lament their fate. Besides prose there are poems on the walls: two stanzas of The Knight in the Panther's Skin from the letter Nestan writes to Tariel from the fortress of Kajeti, one stanza of the Rostomiani, religious and secular lyrics, mostly love poems, some of them by Ana and Tumian, and folk verses. These inscriptions preserve the oldest examples of stanzas of The Knight in the Panther's Skin and the Rostomiani and of Georgian lyric poetry. In 1551 the Persians and in 1576 the Ottomans took and sacked the monastery, after which it was deserted. On 7 November 2006 Vanis Kvabebi was given the category of an immovable cultural monument of national significance, and in 2010 the monastery reopened.

## Visit info

Vanis Kvabebi is 27 kilometres from Aspindza and about 3 kilometres by road from the village of Vardzia; Tmogvi Fortress is about 2 kilometres away. The infrastructure of the complex was updated under a USAID programme. Since 2010 it has again been a working monastery, home to two or three monks. In recent years access to the caves has been restricted because of the danger of rockfall and the restoration work that followed, so check visiting conditions and times on site.

## Tips

In the small church on the top level are the fifteenth-century women's inscriptions: poems by Ana, Tumian and their companions and stanzas of The Knight in the Panther's Skin. Look for the domed church of Saint George at the centre of the complex and the excavated wine cellar with its eight qvevri. Vanis Kvabebi combines well with a visit to Vardzia and Tmogvi Fortress.

## Safety

The caves rise in several levels on a steep cliff and are linked by narrow tunnels: move carefully, hold children by the hand and do not enter closed or fenced-off parts, as there is a danger of rockfall. This is a working monastery: dress modestly and respect the life of the monks.

## Sources

- [Vanis Kvabebi — Georgian Wikipedia](https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/ვანის_ქვაბები)
- [Vanis Kvabebi — English Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanis_Kvabebi)
- [Vanis Kvabebi — Russian Wikipedia](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ванис-Квабеби)
- [Vanis Kvabebi — Hebrew Wikipedia](https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/מערות_ואני)
- [Vanis Kvabebi — Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2304053)

## This page in other languages

- [ქართული](https://explore-georgia.ge/ka/adgilebi/vanis-qvabebi)
- [Русский](https://explore-georgia.ge/ru/mesta/vanis-kvabebi)