Cultural heritage agency says rockfall near Vardzia ancient cave city poses “no threat” to monument

Rockfall in the vicinity of the Vardzia ancient cave city in Georgia’s south poses “no threat” to the monument, the Georgian national agency for cultural heritage preservation announced earlier on Tuesday.

The agency made the comment following reports of large boulders that had fallen from a hillside in the early hours of Tuesday before disintegrating in the entrance to the monument listed in the UNESCO tentative list of world heritage.

In its announcement, the state body said the rockfall - which followed heavy overnight rains - did not pose threats to the cave monastery complex itself.

                  Photo: Kukuri Metreveli/Facebook

Ilia Tevdoradze, the director of the local museum site administering the monument, said the venue was continuing its operation and hosting visitors.

Located in the valley of River Mtkvari in southern Georgia, the monument dates back to the 12th-13th centuries. It connects hundreds of rooms and passages inside the mountainside, stretching hundreds of metres, with the depth of up to 50 metres eight storeys in height.

It is described as a site of “unique natural conditions contributing to the specific microclimate and landscape, historical context and diversity of cultural heritage” in the UNESCO tentative registry, to which the monument was added in 2007.