Monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, Borjomi

A place with an ancient monastic history

The monastery is linked with the ancient monastic tradition of the Borjomi gorge, known in old times as Tori. Three kilometres east of the village of Kvibisi, on the right bank of the Kvibisistskali stream, lies the medieval complex of Berebis Saqdrebi. Local people have always called it the Church of the Monks.

In the summer of 2020, before the church was restored, Georgian archaeologists excavated a 10th-century church here and, next to it, an underground crypt with a stone vault and stone shelves along the walls. According to the excavations, the monastery was active from the 10th to the 16th-17th century.

For a pilgrim the place is above all a reminder of Christian labour: of monasticism, of prayer and of people who gave their lives to God.

The ossuary and testimonies of healing

The remains found in the Berebis Saqdrebi crypt are now kept in the ossuary of the Monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, in the care of the community and Archimandrite Andria. Researchers have counted 619 skulls, and the work is still going on. The study is carried out by Georgian anthropologists together with Ca' Foscari University of Venice.

Almost all those buried in the crypt are men, which agrees with the tradition that monks of the nearby monastery were laid to rest here. On many of the bones researchers see traces of violent death and link them with the invasions of Tamerlane at the end of the 14th century and of Shah Tahmasp I in the 16th century, when enemies laid waste to the monasteries of the Borjomi gorge. The monastic tradition says the same: the ossuary holds monks who died as martyrs during attacks on the monasteries. Of the neighbouring Green Monastery people still say that the stones in the stream beside it were stained with the blood of the slain monks.

Pilgrims come to the ossuary to pray for help in illness, sorrow and hard circumstances of life, and are anointed here with blessed oil. The monastery's clergy tell of many healings through prayer to the martyred monks: people who asked with faith received relief from their ailments. The community keeps these accounts as testimony of God's mercy through the prayers of the monks who suffered, and for many pilgrims the visit to the ossuary becomes a special moment of prayer for health, for strength of spirit and for their loved ones.

A Christian turns with hope above all to God. The Church understands the help believers receive as a sign of His will and mercy, with no magic in it.

The feast of the monastery

The main feast of the monastery is the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, celebrated on 21 September (New Style). Through the Most Holy Virgin the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, came into the world, so the day of her birth is especially bright for every Orthodox Christian.

To come to a monastery dedicated to this feast is to leave the bustle behind and spend time with God: to pray, light a candle, go to confession and receive Communion, and venerate the holy things of the monastery. Here people pray for the health of soul and body, for healing from illness and for their families, and ask the Mother of God for her intercession and protection.

Pilgrimage to Borjomi

The Andcross pilgrimage centre includes the holy places of the Borjomi gorge in its programmes. We want pilgrims to see the beauty of Georgia and above all its spiritual heritage: ancient monasteries, churches and places of prayerful labour. On this path the Monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos becomes a place of prayer for health, of consolation and of meeting the centuries-old history of Orthodox monasticism.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us!