King David IV of Georgia, called David the Builder, founded Gelati in 1106 as a monastic and educational center. It stands on a hill several miles northeast of Kutaisi, then the capital, overlooking the Tskaltsitela Gorge. The article calls it an exemplar of the Georgian Golden Age.
The main monastery is cross-shaped and built of solid stone with full archways, including the bell tower. Its walls were designed to reflect sunlight. The Church of the Blessed Virgin was completed in 1130 under Demetrius I, though the infobox gives 1106. A 12th-century Byzantine-style mosaic of the Virgin and Child fills its apse, and the churches of St. George and St. Nicholas date to the 13th century.
David employed Georgian scientists, theologians and philosophers at the academy, among them Ioane Petritsi. He is buried at the monastery. UNESCO listed it in 1994, put it on the danger list in 2010, and removed it in 2017.
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