The 6,000 Martyrs of Gareja

The 6,000 Martyrs of Gareja were monks of Saint David's monastery at Gareja in Georgia, killed in the year 1615 on the orders of Shah Abbas I of Persia. According to tradition, the multitude of fathers was stabbed by soldiers at a signal, on Easter night, and their bodies were cut into pieces and left as food for the beasts of the desert.

The monastic complex of Saint David of Gareja comprises nineteen medieval monasteries and five thousand cells, in the desert on the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan. The Church honours the slain monks as venerable martyrs. They are commemorated on 26 April (new style).