Singer Katie Melua backs restoration of Vardzia cave city

A Georgian singer who lives abroad is returning to her home country to support the restoration of a cave city in southern Georgia.

United Kingdom-based singer/songwriter Katie Melua met with representatives from the Ministry of Culture to discuss how she could contribute to the Vardzia rehabilitation project.

Today she met with Georgia’s Minister of Culture Mikheil Giorgadze to discuss future collaboration as well as her intention to donate money to the restoration of Georgia’s historical stone complex.

"Today's meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere, and it is with great pleasure I can say that we [the Ministry and Melua] have undertaken several joint projects in Georgia", Minister Giorgadze said.

"Obviously, we talked about rehabilitation of the Vardzia cave complex. She is very actively involved, supports and is taking concrete steps in the rehabilitation process", he added.

The Government of Georgia announced it would allocate 570,000 GEL from the Reserve Fund to implement the four-year rehabilitation project of the Vardzia complex.

International experts will be invited to join Georgian specialists and help determine the methodology and techniques needed to save the monument.

Vardzia is a cave monastery complex that dated back to the 12th-13th Centuries. It is located in the valley of River Mtkvari, situated about 70km south of Borjomi.

Experts said this was an outstanding monument showcasing medieval Georgian architecture.

Hundreds of rooms and passages connecting the caves were built inside the mountainside, which stretched 800m, up to 50m deep and eight stories high. Among the rooms were refectories, cells, storage areas and wine cellars.

Giorgadze said the active support of Melua and other artists’ involvement in such large-scale projects in Georgia was invaluable.