Culture5 min read
Vardzia, the Cave City of Queen Tamar
Six hundred rooms carved into a cliff above the Mtkvari.
By Vakhtang Meskhi
In the late 12th century Queen Tamar’s builders carved a monastery-town 13 storeys deep into the Erusheti mountain. Tunnels connected churches, a throne room, wine cellars and an irrigation system.
An earthquake in 1283 sheared off the cliff face and exposed the rooms you see today. The Church of the Dormition still holds a fresco portrait of the queen herself.