Vardzia

Vardzia is a cave monastery site in southern Georgia, excavated from the slopes of the Erusheti Mountain on the left bank of the Kura River. The main period of construction was the second half of the twelfth century. The caves stretch along the cliff for some five hundred meters and in up to nineteen tiers. The monastery was an important cultural center, a place of significant literary and artistic work. The Church of the Dormition, dating to the 1180s, has an important series of wall paintings. The site was largely abandoned after the Ottoman takeover in the sixteenth century and is now part of a state heritage reserve. Vardzia is a village in Kharagauli district, Imereti region, with an elevation of 385 m and a population of 1458