We are still at the Vardzia cave monastery. This was our visit there to The Church of the Dormition. It dates to the 1180's and has a series of important wall paintings. The site was largely abandoned after the Ottoman takeover in the 16th century. But now it's part of a Georgia state heritage preserve.

The Church of the Dormition was the central spiritual focus of Vardzia. It was similarly carved from rock but its walls were reinforced with stone. The church measures 27 feet by 48 feet and is 30 feet high, so that was a lot of rock carving. It's covered with a barrel vault and has adjacent rooms on two sides. The church is illuminated by three windows.

A handful of monks still reside here today. We met one on our way up to and inside of the Church of the Dormition. Below that, you can see the three bells and the outside wall of the church.

The next two photos are inside the church.

The western adjacent room to the church leads to another separate hall, which has a tunnel which ends with a cold water pool. I had wondered how Vardzia would survive without water had the Mongols showed up. But they were prepared for that with a pipe system and water storage.