Vardzia ancient cave city to become accessible for all abilities

The ancient Vardzia cave city in Georgia's south is opening up to more tourists thanks to large-scale renovation efforts to make the site more accessible for people with disabilities.

The 12-13th Century cave complex is one of the primary tourist destinations in Georgia and is visited by thousands of tourists every year.

The site features hundreds of rooms and passageways connecting the caves, which were carved into rock formations. Residential, storage areas and wine cellars can also be found throughout the complex.

The rehabilitation efforts at Vardzia are also aimed at improving safety by installing nets for containing falling rocks. Photo from Gela Bedianashvili/Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia.

Rehabilitation works have been continuing at Vardzia for the past year to make the site more accessible to people with limited abilities. Meanwhile in a fresh project ramps and other infrastructure will be installed at the site in the near future.

Director of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia Nikoloz Antidze said the project to adapt the complex for visitors with disabilities was "unprecedented" for Georgia.

On Tuesday the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia announced the current rehabilitation works at Vardzia would improve visitor safety at the site and safeguard the natural rock formations.

These new efforts will include installing safety nets to catch falling stones and strengthen large cliffs with selective drilling done by expert mountaineers.

Vardzia features dozens of caves that are cut into the rock formations and interconnected by passages. Photo from Gela Bedianashvili/Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia.

The ongoing works at Vardzia coincided with the announcement of a new project that aimed to restore Tchatchkari village – a 12th Century settlement – located on the north-eastern slope of the rock formation that houses Vardzia on its southern side.

Tchatchkari village, known as the supplier of wine for storage facilities in Vardzia throughout the Middle Ages, the historic role of the village will be given a new life to connect it with the cave city complex and the general tourist route in Georgia’s historic Javakheti region.