Unfortunately after such good weather, today started off with rain. Our first visit of the day was Khertvisi Fortress which was built in the 3rd-4th centuries on a rocky crag above the meeting of the Paravani and Mtkvari Rivers. Its name comes from the word that means confluence of rivers. Its purpose was to guard the Silk Road section connecting Armenia and Byzantium.
Significant renovation work took place in the 10th and 14th centuries and the fortress progressively grew into a city. From the eastern wall two secret passages go down to the river. One was used for water, the other served as a communication system. There are ruins of a church within the walls dated back to 985. Two big towers of the citadel were built in the time of Queen Tamara (1184-1212).
Our second visit was the cave city of Vardzia. Although it had stopped raining, the shuttle bus that took you to top of the swichback road to the city was not working and as the city itself was completely made up of uneven surfaces and steps, I decided to stay at the bottom and Nigel set out with our group.
Inhabited since the Bronze Age and developed into a sophisticated monastic and defensive site between the 11th and 13th centuries. It is a huge complex of man-made caves hewn from the cliff face. The city was first conceived by King Giorgi III as a place where villagers could take shelter in the face of enemy raids. It was originally designed to accommodate up to 50,000 people. It was recently found to have 641 separate chambers spread over 13 levels, stretching for some 500 metres along the cliff face, the caves are connected by a labyrinth of tunnels (some more than 150 metres long), staircases and terraces.
It’s a huge site, but what you see today, is just a tiny fraction of the original Vardzia, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1283. It was abandoned in the 16th century and left untouched until excavations began in the Soviet era and in 1988, the monks moved back in. Today there are just a handful of monks living at Vardzia. It contains a church and from one side of it you can take a tunnel to get back to near the bottom if the hill, full of steps, very narrow sections and steep inclines. Very tasty lunch at the local restaurant before heading back to the hotel.