Vardzia

Vardzia is a village in Aspindza Municipality, Samtskhe-Javakheti, known for the cave monastery carved into the cliff of Mount Erusheti on the left bank of the Mtkvari. The complex stretches for about 500 m along the rock face and rises through as many as nineteen tiers, with hundreds of chambers, halls, a refectory and wine cellars. Excavation began under King Giorgi III, and the frescoed Church of the Dormition of the Virgin was built in the 1180s, during the reign of Queen Tamar. An earthquake in 1283 brought down much of the outer rock, and Persian forces sacked the site in 1551. Vardzia has been a historical-architectural museum-reserve since 1985 and lies about 300 km from Tbilisi and 30 km from Aspindza.