Ancient cave discovered in provincial capital Kutaisi in Georgia’s west

An accidental discovery in the western Georgian city of Kutaisi has unveiled a cave that could date as far back as 50 thousand years, speleologists say.

The finding was reported in local media on Friday, after professionals visited the location near Kldiashvili Street in the city, the capital of Imereti province.

We saw eccentric [stalactite and stalagmite] shapes [in the cave], the likes of which we had not seen in Georgia before.

[The] transparent, shiny, white shapes like these are a rarity throughout the Caucasus and Georgia. The cave could be of the Lower Cretaceous Period, thirty to fifty thousand years ago”, the speleologists Valeri Barbakadze and Gigo Oniani told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

A close shot of details of a stalagmite in the cave. Photo: Giorgi Oniani.

The cave was discovered by Vakhtang Sikharulidze, a local psychiatrist, during a stroll with his dog earlier in the week.

[To relieve stress from my work] I discharged a gun [in a remote location] and heard a strange echo of the shot. Following the sound, I came across an entrance to the cave. Realising I had found something special, I came back the next day with a friend and a photo camera.”

[Coming back with speleologists,] we found a fifteen-metre-deep well leading down into the lower level of the cave that has a space similar to the upper level”, Sikharulidze told the radio.

The professionals are now checking historical data on the cave in attempts to confirm their finding as the first discovery of the spot.