Why go
Uplistsikhe is one of the oldest urban settlements in the Caucasus, a cave city hewn from sandstone cliffs above the Mtkvari River that flourished from the early Iron Age through the late Middle Ages. Once a vital center on the Silk Road—its name means 'Lord's Fortress'—it sheltered pagans, Christians, and traders alike across three millennia. You walk through actual streets, dwellings, wine presses, and a remarkable pillared hall that became a basilica, all carved by hand into living rock. The three-level town reveals how Georgians adapted sacred spaces across religions, and the view from the upper terrace, where a Christian stone basilica now stands, surveys the same river valley that caravans once followed east to west.