David Gareja is a rock-hewn Georgian-Orthodox  monastery complex located 70 km southeast of Tbilisi. The complex includes hundreds of cells, churches, chapels, refectories and living quarters hollowed out of the rock face.

Part of the complex is located in Azerbadjan and has become subject to a border dispute between Georgia and Azerbaijan. The area is also home to protected animal species and evidence of some of the oldest human habitations in the region.

The complex was founded in the 6th century by David (St. David Garejeli), one of the thirteen Assyrian monks  who arrived in the country at the same time. The monastery saw further development under the guidance of the 9th-century Georgian saint Ilarion. The convent was particularly patronized by the Georgian royal and noble families. The 12th-century Georgian king Demetre I even chose David Gareja as a place of his confinement after he abdicated the throne.

Despite the harsh environment, the monastery remained an important centre of religious and cultural activity for many centuries; at certain periods the monasteries owned extensive agricultural lands and many villages. The renaissance of fresco painting chronologically coincides with the general development of the life in the David Gareja monasteries. The high artistic skill of David Gareja frescoes made them an indispensable part of world treasure.

With the downfall of the Georgian monarchy, the monastery suffered a lengthy period of decline and devastation by the Mongol army (1265), but was later restored by the Georgian kings. It survived the Safavidattack of 1615, when the monks were massacred and the monastery's unique manuscripts and important works of Georgian art destroyed.

After the violent Bolshevik takeover of Georgia in 1921, the monastery was closed down and remained uninhabited. In the years of the Soviet War in Afganistan, the monastery's territory was used as a training ground for the Soviet military that damaged  the unique cycle of murals in the monastery. In 1987, a group of Georgian students led by the young writer Dato Turashvili  launched a series of protests. Although, the Soviet defense ministry officials finally agreed to move a military firing range from the monastery, the shelling was resumed in October 1988, giving rise to generalized public outrage. After some 10,000 Georgians demonstrated in the streets of Tbilisi and a group of students launched a hunger strike at the monastery, the army base was finally removed.

After the restoration of Georgia's independence in 1991, the monastery life in David Gareja was revived. The monastery remains active today and is popular among tourists.

Because the complex is partially located on the territory of Azerbaijan, it has become subject to a border dispute between Georgia and Azerbaijan, with ongoing talks since 1991.