Gelati Academy Ruins

The ruins of the Gelati Academy stand within the monastery complex, identifiable as a large roofless stone structure adjacent to the main church. The academy was founded by David IV in the 12th century as a centre of learning intended to rival the great schools of Byzantium and was among the most important intellectual institutions in medieval Georgia.

The building is not restored and has no interior to visit, but the scale of the ruined walls gives a sense of the academy's ambition. Georgian scholars came here to study philosophy, theology, astronomy, and rhetoric; the curriculum was explicitly modelled on Byzantine educational traditions but aimed at producing distinctly Georgian learning.

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A story
The Gelati Academy was founded by David IV as a conscious attempt to create a Georgian Constantinople — a centre of learning that would anchor Georgian culture in the same way that Byzantium anchored Greek Orthodox civilization. The scholars who taught here studied philosophy, theology, and the natural sciences. One of the most important works of Georgian philosophy, 'The Philosophical Dictionary' by Ioane Petritsi, was written at Gelati in the 12th century.