Travel Guide Ouplistsikhe

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this troglodyte town is worth the trip. It is a surprising site, particularly original. Imagine a whole people, settled and living on a rocky promontory carved out of caves, overlooking a landscape of desolate steppes. The site seems far from everything, almost has a lunar aspect. You visit it by entering on one side through a tunnel built in the very heart of the stone, you walk along a rock worn by time, polished by the footsteps of those who have lived here for centuries. The site is a perfect testimony to the skill and genius of man to adapt to his environment. Fifteen kilometres from Gori overlooking a grandiose setting, the caves are the last remains of a city that entered history in the second millennium BC. An important cultural, political and religious centre in antiquity, its heyday occurred between the 9th and 11th centuries. It was then a major commercial stage on the route linking Europe to Central Asia. Beware, during your visit, the rocky surfaces can be slippery, especially in rainy weather. There are no railings.