In 2000, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, blessed the Georgian clergy to purchase plots of land.
In 2001, Archpriest Zurab (Antadze) purchased land in Dzalaantkhevi (which can be translated as “Impudents’ Gorge”), near the village of Tsodoreti in the Mtskheta municipality, with the intention of establishing the St. Basil the Great Men’s Monastery. Soon, a small wooden church and living quarters appeared there.
In 2007, Archpriest Zurab was tonsured a monk and given the name Basil.
Today, Archimandrite Basil is the abbot of the St. Basil the Great Monastery in Dzalaantkhevi. The monastery brotherhood consists of 25 members. A large number of parishioners—all men, per our Monastery Rule—regularly attend Sunday and feast day services.
