Visiting Uplistsikhe Cave Town - Georgia

Uplistsikhe is a town from ancient times cast out of rock ten kilometres from the town of Gori, the capital of the Shide Kartli region in Eastern Georgia.

The Uplistsikhe ancient town is built on the banks of the Mtkvari River and is situated high up on a rocky outpost.

What makes the Uplistsikhe, which literally translates as “The lord’s fortress,” so special is the span of history and the amount of culture the town cave complex holds. The earliest of structure in the cave complex date from the Early Iron Age with the younger structures dating from the Late Middle Ages of around the fourteenth century.

Culture wise the cave town of Uplistsikhe is famous for its mix of Anatolia, Iranian, Pagan and Christian architecture showing that many cultures flourished here and co-existed.

Uplistsikhe is a three tier complex with the tiers called the south (lower, middle (central and the north (upper) areas. The total area the cave complex covers an impressive eight hectares of rocky land; this is just under twenty acres or eighty thousand square metres.

Within the cave complex there is also a ninth century Basilica with three naves that stands alone on one of the rocky hills overlooking the empty land below it.

All the cave structure are devoid of decoration which is not common in a complex of such an age although archaeology has unearthed a wealth of artifacts spanning the ages from gold and silver to ceramics and sculptures.

Tourism

Although parts of the Uplistsikhe cave complex is unsafe due to instability caused after an Earthquake in 1921 parts of the complex can still be visited.

If you are travelling to the Gori area of Georgia then a visit to the Uplistsikhe cave town will really fill you with intrigue and wonder. All artifacts found in the cave town are no longer on site and are located in the National Museum of Tblisi but the caves themselves give visitors an immense amount of interest and a window into our ancient past.

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