The cave city grew over a period of hundreds of years in the first millennium BC. in antiquity the city was one of the most important centers of Kartli, and in the Middle Ages it stood on an important trade route that linked Byzantium with India and China. At the height of its development in the Middle Ages. Uplis-Tsikhe was a flourishing community of over 20,000 inhabitants, primarily merchants and artisans.
The city is laid out over nine hectares (22 acres), rising from east to west up a mountain slope. The south side of the site drops steeply to the Mtkvari (Kura) River, which served as natural protection. Moats surrounding the city also acted as an obstacle to its numerous invaders. The ultimate decline of the city can be attributed to Tamerlane and the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. A series of earthquakes, and the decline of trade caused by the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, combined to weaken the city to such a degree that by the 15th century only shepherds used the caves as shelter from the elements.
Uplis-Tsikhe is the prototype of the cave monasteries that developed later at Vardzia and David-Gareja. At Uplis-Tsikhe, an entire town (streets, churches, storerooms, palaces, and residential dwellings) was caned into the soft stone of the mountainside. As the city grew, wooden structures were either added to the caves or built to stand alone. All of these dwellings have since disappeared. The caves, plus remnants of streets and city walls, have afforded archaeologists a good view of the demarcation of neighborhoods and their functions within the community.
The southern part of town was the trading center, where the stalls of the merchants and artisans' workshops were located. The small pits dotted throughout the surface of the stone slope were originally used for pagan ceremonies; later, after Christianity was introduced, they were used for food storage. All the small sidestreets joined with Central Magistrate Street, which divided the city in half. You can climb it going towards the ninth-century Three-Church Basilica at the summit.
The central part of town was the primary residential area for craftsmen and their families. West of the main street are dwellings from the late Hellenistic period. Situated at the edge of the cliff that drops dramatically to the Mtkavri below, this settlement has a number of caves can ed in imitation of architectural motifs, including gabled entrances and coffered ceilings. These date back to AD 200-300.
The northwestern part of town features a medieval palace and the administrative district. Before reaching the Three-Church Basilica, turn left off the main road to the Hall of Queen Tamara. Although Tamara never lived here, this deluxe cave dwelling was an apartment for the towns rulers. Scholars speculate that the western area was reserved for the king, and the northern and southern portions housed other political leaders. Two columns, which stood here until the 19th century, separated the central room into two naves. Note the stone carving on the ceiling, designed to simulate wooden beams. Niches were carved into the wall for storage and entrances to side chambers were carved through the stone.
Above Tamaras hall is one of Uplis-Tsikhe’s largest cave dwellings: the Three-Naved Cave Basilica. Now in ruins, this basilica has four columns that separated the space into three naves. The structure functioned as a religious hall in antiquity and became a Christian Basilica in the sixth century. The basilica was destroyed by the Persians in the seventh century but was restored in the 12th to 13th centuries and converted into a residence and bakery.
The Three-Church Basilica, near the end of the uncovered main street, dates to the ninth to tenth centuries and functioned until the 15th century when the last of the clergy were killed. Their graves were discovered in the church in 1986. The walls were covered with tenth-century frescoes which were plastered over in the 19th century during the Russification campaign against the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Along the perimeter of the town’s eastern portion you can still see sections of the old defensive walls dating to 920. which remained intact until the 15th century.
Returning to the southeastern section, leave through the secret tunnel that extends for 45 meters (147.6 feet) through the rock, emerging at the riverbank.
Uplis-Tsikhe is one of those eerie places that confirm so eloquently the Old Testament injunction against vanity. Looking over all the burrows in the soft stone and feeling the wind erode the structures even as you stand there, you can't help but be spooked by all this troglodytic ambition and what remains of it.
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Uplis-Tsikhe