Vanis-Kvabebi (Region of Samtskhe-Javakheti)
Vanis-Kvabebi (Georgian: ვანის ქვაბები). A complex of rock-cut caves, a monument of Georgian architecture and culture in historical Samtskhe (Georgian: ვანი). About 200 caves of various purposes are carved into the rock, which are located on 16 floors. (For comparison, there are only 8 in the Vardzia Monastery). There were three churches on different levels, two of which have survived to this day. The remains of three aqueduct paths and a reservoir, fragments of paintings and important historical inscriptions have been preserved. All the surrounding rocks are pierced by the dark eye sockets of cells carved into the rock. Some of the cells are already impossible to get into without special equipment. The walls and ceiling were blackened by fires, and the walls were soaked through with candle wax over hundreds of years.
The few sources provide scant information that it was founded in the 8th century. In the 13th century, a protective wall was built, the remains of which can be seen there today. Huge boulders as tall as a man protected the modest life of monks from the raids of the Turks. The place amazes with its energy and sacredness. The wind rarely comes here, preserving the centuries-old silence. There are many places in Georgia whose existence you might not even suspect and which for many centuries somehow miraculously manage to remain in the shadow of time and human attention. Vanis Kvabebi is such a place, which was founded more than 1000 years ago and is inhabited to this day. It was from here that the construction of more famous cave monasteries in this area began.
Erusheti Ridge (Georgian: ერუშეთის ქედი), Aspindza Municipality (Georgian: ასპინძის მუნიციპალიტეტი)
