Georgia Uplistsikhe Kvakhvreli Tours

Uplistsikhe Tours explore one of the oldest urban settlements in the Caucasus, a rock-hewn cave city carved into a cliff above the Mtkvari River near Gori, in an area listed administratively as Uplistsikhe Kvakhvreli. Occupied from the early Iron Age through the medieval period, the site served as a political and religious center for more than a thousand years before its gradual decline after the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century.

Uplistsikhe sits within a short drive of both Gori and Mtskheta, and visits are often combined with a wider Georgia itinerary through central Kartli.

An Early Urban Center

Archaeologists trace the earliest habitation at Uplistsikhe to around the beginning of the first millennium BC, making it contemporary with some of the region's oldest known towns. It grew into a stop on trade routes linking the Black Sea coast with Central Asia, and it briefly served as a royal residence and refuge for Georgian rulers during periods of foreign invasion in the medieval centuries.

Carved Chambers and Streets

Uplistsikhe's builders cut hundreds of chambers directly into the soft volcanic rock of the cliff, connecting them with stepped streets, drainage channels and tunnels. Surviving structures include a pharmacy, a wine cellar with rock-cut qvevri pits, and a hall known as the Uplistsikhe Theater, thought to have hosted pagan rituals before later use.

Temple Platform and Later Basilica

At the highest point of the site, a flat platform once held a pagan temple, later replaced after Georgia's conversion to Christianity in the fourth century. A triple-nave basilica dating to the ninth or tenth century still stands nearby, marking the site's shift from a pre-Christian ceremonial center to a Christian one.

Later History

Uplistsikhe continued to serve Georgian rulers into the medieval period, including brief use as a refuge during the reign of Queen Tamar in the twelfth century, before earthquakes and Mongol raids in the following century left much of the upper city abandoned. A small site museum near the entrance displays pottery, tools and other finds excavated from the chambers.

The River Tunnel

A narrow tunnel cut through the rock leads down from the upper city to the bank of the Mtkvari River, built as an escape route and water source during sieges. Walking through it to the riverside gives a sense of how the city functioned as a defensible stronghold as well as a settlement.

Combining Uplistsikhe with Mtskheta

Because Uplistsikhe sits along the same road network as Mtskheta and Gori, many day tours link the cave city with Georgia's former capital in a single itinerary. Ancient Caves & Old Capital City – Uplistsikhe & Mtskheta Day Tour pairs the two sites, covering both the rock-hewn city and Mtskheta's cathedral and monastery in one trip from Tbilisi.

Visiting Uplistsikhe

The site involves uneven rock surfaces, open ledges and steep steps in places, so sturdy footwear is worth planning for. Little shade covers the cliff itself, and the site is generally more comfortable to walk in spring or autumn than under the full heat of midsummer.