This spectacular cave monastery near Aspindza in the south of the country is one of the oldest cave cities in the world and my favourite sight in Georgia. It looks like one of the movie sets of Lord of the Rings, but it is not the home of dwarfs but of many monks. Vardzia was built in the 12th century, under the reign of King Tamar, the first woman in the history of Georgia that was ever crowned as a king (the word “queen” was used to refer to the wives of the kings in medieval Georgia). This underground fortress eventually had 13 levels constructed with natural caves and contained over 6000 rooms, including a throne room, a reception chamber, a meeting room, a bakery, a forge, chapels, and a huge church. The only way to get to this underground city was through a secret tunnel that started at the nearby Mtkvari River. Sadly enough the glorious days of Vardzia didn’t last very long. It kept the Georgians safe from the Mongols but Mother Nature is unbeatable. In 1283, only 100 years after its construction, a devastating earthquake literally ripped the place apart and destroyed more than two-thirds of the city and the remaining caves that were once hidden became visible.

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