Sept 28 - Yesterday organized an itinerary for touring today with the owner of the place we are staying. There are a number of sites to visit, all accessible from one road going east and south toward the Turkish border.
Some dry and barren terrain outside of Akhaltsikhe. This is one of the best times to be outdoors here, as it is not too hot or cold, and is generally low rainfall.
Today was the first day I saw something other than sedimentary rocks. The areas we visit today are almost entirely basalt flows and ash beds. This will be important later!
Sheep invasion on the highway near Idumala.
The valley we follow the whole way today hosts the Mtkvari River, same as which passes through Tbilisi. Being a historically important route, it is dotted with fortresses, churches, and cave dwellings carved into the cliffs. Some are well known, but we see others, just small places where people likely went to hide when hostile forces marched through.
This group of cave shelters is just outside of Tmogvi.
Khertvisi Fortress, our first stop today. The original fortifications on this hill, that juts out and leaves only a narrow valley, probably date from ancient times. It has since been upgraded by many groups, and underwent repair as a historical site after the 1950’s.
The tower shown would have provided a great deal of control over the narrow valley below.
As usual, there is a littering of old carved stone pieces, found during various excavations. This one has a good rendition of the cross used on the current national flag of Georgia.
Further up the road was the ruined shell of Nakalakevi Fortress. The historical signage of this structure disappeared long ago, so could not determine any details about it.
Just short of our final destination was Tmogvi Fortress, on the other side of the river and utop a difficult-to-access crag of rock.
Not sure how easy it is to get up there, but would be really interesting to see. There are remnants of a clifftop fortress, a small church, and bits of defensive walls. There appears to not have been any modern repair.
On to Vardzia, probably the most well-known archaeological sites in this region.
Vardzia, as seen from the other side of the river. As a geologist, I see immediately why this place was selected for a cliff city. The white rock containing all the carved-out rooms is a volcanic rock composed of small soft fragments and plenty of ash. This stuff does consolidate over time into rocks, but is weak and easily excavated with a shovel or pick. The same type of structures were made at the famous sites of Cappadocia in Türkiye. Above this is a darker band of rock. This is fragmental volcanic lava that is much harder and resistant to erosion. It essentially forms a roof over the whole city.
Vardzia first began construction under the Georgian king George III, and was completed under his daughter, Queen Tamar, in the 12th Century. It consisted of about 600 rooms, plus tunnels and passageways, many of which were escape routes in case of attack.
In 1286, an earthquake sheared off a good part of the outer edge of the cliff settlement. Rooms were deepened into the cliff to compensate for the sudden lack of space. However, the quake also compromised the defense system of tunnels and limited access from below.
Though some of the depressions in the walls were for storing food, the biggest once are thought to be for the display of religious icons.
A room with a few lobes, one of which was damaged by the earthquake.
It would take hours to visit all the rooms, climbing up and down stairways.
A much more recent structure built into the cliff wall. I don’t know for what purpose.
The Church of Dormition, the largest church carved into the cliff wall.
Some good frescos on the ceiling and walls of the Church of Dormition.
Way back into the rock was a small spring.
One of the secret tunnels, that connects the lower church level with living quarters above it.
A picture of Queen Tamar, who is one of the biggest historical figures in Georgia. Coincidentally, it is also a good shot of the fragmental ash and lapilli tuffaceous volcanic rock that is the foundation of the city.
This is a food and water storage room. The depressions in the floor were for placing containers like pots, and around the edge is a ditch for placing amphoras against the walls.
From Vardzia we went further upstream and up a side canyon to Zede Vardzia, also originally built in the 12th Century. However, this site is still active as a nunnery.
As we got to Zede Vardzia, a nun was ringing the bells to call everyone to prayer.
When we went in, a nun was reciting a long prayer. The interior was richly decorated with frescos but I didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere by walking around taking photos. We sat around for a bit outside while they sang. A number of nuns stood around the entrance, with a sort of far off look, as though in a meditative trance. It lent a real powerful sense of peace to the place.
The nuns have made a great flower garden by the chapel.
Made an attempt to visit Vadis Kvabebi, on the other side of the river a bit downstream. Also quite a well-known site in this area of cliff wall dwellings. However, the site is now closed due to risk of rockfalls.
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