Key Monastery ⛩️

1000-year-old monastery on cliff

Key Monastery is Spiti's most recognizable landmark — a thousand-year-old Buddhist gompa stacked improbably against a cliff face at 4,166m, visible for kilometers before you reach it. It's still an active monastery with roughly 300 resident monks, not a museum, so visitors are welcome but expected to be respectful of prayer times and restricted areas. The best visiting window is June to September, matching Spiti's short accessible season. Inside are centuries-old murals and thangka paintings that have survived earthquakes and Spiti's brutal winters largely intact. It's a short drive from Kaza, making it an easy half-day addition to any Spiti itinerary, though the cliffside architecture rewards lingering rather than a quick photo stop.