Going underground: Exploring Uplistsikhe, Georgia's oldest cave town

A lunar-looking landscape comprising a rocky, pock-marked massif, with panoramic views of mountains and green fields demarcated by a meandering river, is topped with rock-hewn caves crowned by a basilica.

I am at Georgia’s Uplistsikhe cave town, which translates to “castle of the gods”. Georgia is well-known for its ancient cave towns, which is among the oldest in the united states. Built on a sandstone outcrop above the Mtkvari River, Uplistsikhe is situated 15 kilometres from the town of Gori, the birthplace of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Legend has it that the cave town was built by slaves, with pagan temples focused on the sun goddess. It has already established a tumultuous history, falling under Christian and Arab rule (when it had been a thriving caravan trading post between Asia and Europe), and it features architectural elements dating from the Iron Age to the late Middle Ages. In the first Bronze Age, it was a prominent farming community.

“It had been a residence of kings through the Arab conquest, and a shelter for shepherds down through the ages,” explains Sophie, our local guide. From the sixth century BC to the late DARK AGES, people lived in the more than 700 caves that perforate the rock, connected by twisting staircases, cobblestone streets, alleys and tunnels. At its peak, the settlement housed almost 20,000 people.

It had been a residence of kings through the Arab conquest, and a shelter for shepherds down through the ages

The cave town was around for almost 3,000 years, until it had been ravaged by the Mongols in the 13th century, and subsequently abandoned. Many important parts were also destroyed by an earthquake in 1920. But since 1957, archaeological excavations have uncovered the settlement’s many treasures, which lay hidden under layers of sand and mud. Many temples focused on sunlight goddess, built before Christianity arrived here, have already been unearthed and, in 2007, the Uplistsikhe cave complex was put on the tentative list to certainly be a Unesco World Heritage Site.

I climb the steep staircase that sprawls across the rock face. The cave town sprawls over a location of more than 40,000 square metres and is made across three levels. A cold wind lifts off the River Mtkvari, which runs below the complex, and shepherds and their herds dot the fertile valley. Sophie explains that the city can be split into a lower, central and upper area - and almost all of the rock caves are in the centre.

It feels like an open-air museum, with narrow alleys and staircases, and small squares hewn from the rock. Lizards dart behind large boulders, and pink wildflowers sprout from cracks in the rock faces. I see pagan sacrificial pits - small circular depressions gouged out of your ground, where in fact the blood of animals could have been offered up in ancient times. A big cave with a pointed arch and a decorated ceiling was probably used as an amphitheatre, where religious plays were performed. I admire the ingenuity of using one specific cave as a pharmacy, with pigeonholes for storing medicines where archaeologists have learned traces of herbal cures.

Another of the caves was used as a granary yet another as a bakery, where, in ancient times, persons baked their own bread. Gleam unique prison, with 80-metre-deep holes dug in to the floor. Sophie explains that only one prisoner could stand there, serving as a warning to other people in the community.

Some caves have columns carved in to the rocks, others have triangular roofs, while a few ceilings are carved to resemble wooden logs and winepresses are occassionally carved into the floors. Most of the caves are stark and also have no decorations, but contain ornately carved ceilings. Some have walls darkened by fires. Many of these structures are connected by a network of tunnels.

The most majestic structure is Queen Tamar’s hall - a grand ceremonial space used for the coronation of kings and queens, with a central stone seat and a ceiling that appears like it was built from wooden logs. Close to the the surface of the city, there’s a three nave basilica carved in to the rock, built over a former pagan temple.

At the very top of the complex is a 10th-century stone basilica, manufactured from stone and brick, that is a functioning church even today. It is mostly of the structures that survived the Mongol invasion. Inside, it’s a pocket of tranquillity, with frescoes on walls and candles burning before the altar.

Lots of the artefacts unearthed here, including gold, silver and bronze jewellery, and fragments of pottery and ceramics, are displayed at the National Museum in Tbilisi. Addititionally there is a tiny museum at the base of the cave city, in which a few additional articles excavated from the website are located - from arrowheads to glazed ceramics and jugs.

On our in the past, we take a different route - a secret tunnel carved from the rock that was supposed to be used in case of emergencies. As I climb down the rickety staircase, out of the tunnel in to the bright sunshine, it feels as though I am emerging from a time machine.