Uplistsikhe cave complex (Region of Shida Kartli)
Uplistsikhe cave city (Georgian: უფლისციხე). The ancient cave city, carved into the rock on the southern slope of the Kvernakhi ridge (Georgian: კვერნახი), contains all the characteristic components of an ancient city. Quite a huge above-ground monument of Georgia from the ancient period, which has survived to this day. The monument is unique, having preserved the remains of religious and architectural buildings built thousands of years ago. At the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, one of the powerful tribes living in the vicinity of Uplistsikhe used the existing caves for living and properly fortified them. In the early Iron Age (10th-6th centuries BC), Uplistsikhe was the home of the dominant Shida Kartli community (Georgian: შიდა ქართლი) and the seat of the chieftain (Upali) (Georgian: უფალი), a tribal union. The community living in Uplistsikhe gradually subjugated the neighboring tribes. It seems that it was at this time that it received the name Uplistsikhe (fortress-city of Upali (chief)).
In the 6th-5th centuries BC, Uplistsikhe became one of the most powerful political, economic and cultural centers of Shida Kartli and served as the capital for a long time. In the 2nd-1st centuries BC, Uplistsikhe was a typical Hellenistic city with its own urban and social appearance. The city is the center of economic life of a fairly large region and is widely involved in international trade and economic life. In the 1st – 3rd centuries AD, it was an important political, military-strategic center and at the same time a pagan cult place. After Christianity was declared the state religion in Georgia (1st – 5th century), urban life in Uplistsikhe declined, but in the feudal era it still remained a strong fortress. Since the 8th century, Uplistsikhe was the first and most important city of Kartli in the struggle for liberation from the Arabs and for the unification of Georgia. In the 10th – 13th centuries. Uplistsikhe was a prosperous fortress town with a population of 20,000. After the political unification of feudal Georgia, Uplistsikhe gradually lost its importance. It suffered greatly during the Mongol invasion (13th century). In the 15th century, Uplistsikhe finally fell, and in the late feudal era it was completely deserted.
Village of Kvakhvreli(Georgian: სოფელი ქვახვრელი), Gori Municipality (Georgian: გორის მუნიციპალიტეტი)