the viewing deck: Gori Morning Visit Tour; Ancient Rock Town of Uplistsikhe

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Gori Morning Visit Tour; Ancient Rock Town of Uplistsikhe

4-days Solo Trip in Winter Republic of Georgia

January 28 to February 01, 2014

Tbilisi Airport Arrival in the morning

The rock-cut city of Uplistsikhe or "The Lord's Fortress" is one of the oldest urban sites in the Caucasus. There is evidence that Uplistsikhe's vicinity was inhabited from a long time ago as the 3rd millennium BC, and the first caves were hewn out of the rock in X c. BC. The majority of the caves were cut during Classical Antiquity. The city flourished as a major religious, political and commercial center of the Eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli (Iberia) during Hellenistic (III-I cc BC) and Roman times (I-III cc AD). Uplistsikhe consisted of three parts; It had a defensive wall, ditch, several passes, tunnel, streets, water pipes and drainage channels. Some structures were reshaped or carved out in the Middle Ages. At the summit of the complex is the "Uplistsuli Church" built in the second half of the X Century. This is a three-church basilica typical only of Georgian Christian architecture. The Mongol raids in XIII and XIV centuries marked the ultimate eclipse of the town, after which it was virtually abandoned.

How to go to Uplistsikhe;

From Tbilisi Didube Bus Terminal; ride a mini-bus going to Gori for only 5GEL ($2.9) for around 30-minute travel. Departure timings from Didube to Gori is every hour basis. Then from Gori, negotiate a cab for roundtrip (including waiting time for your park stroll and photo-ops) going to Uplistsikhe for 20 GEL ($12.6) max. All taxi drivers know this place. Travel time to Uplistsikhe is around 5 minutes only. Entrance fee for this park is 3GEL ($1.74) with park timings of 0900h-1600H. I strolled Uplistsikhe park on less than an hour only including photo-ops and a little bit meditation embrace.