The rock-hewn town of Uplistsikhe is an interesting attraction. It is located 12 kilometers east of Gori (near the village of Kvakhreli). Usually tourists come here with a day trip from Tbilisi, combining it with a visit to the ancient capital of Mtskheta or a visit to the Stalin Museum in Gori.
The caves of the rock-hewn town of Uplistsikhe were hollowed out in the Sandstone rock on the bank of the Kura river in the 1st Millennium BC, and the last inhabitants left it only in the 19th century. In the 4th century BC, Uplistsikhe became a full-fledged town, with numerous streets. There were no fortress walls in the usual sense. They were built in only a few unprotected places. Defensive functions were provided by the mountains themselves, where cave-dwellings were hollowed out. Residents had only to seal up the main entrances and the town became inaccessible.
For a long time Uplistsikhe was a place of worship. Here animals were sacrificed and pagan gods were worshipped, the main one being the female sun deity. Its symbol is the wheel. Later, Hellenic temples appeared here. The largest of these is the temple of Maxiliani, which remained the Foundation.
For some time after the baptism of Georgia in 337, the inhabitants of Uplistsikhe did not allow Christian preachers to enter the city. It even came to an armed confrontation between Uplistsikhe and Mtskheta, where the capital of the ancient state was located at that time. As a result, Christian churches appeared in Uplistsikhe. The most famous of them has a ceiling decorated with caissons, which gave it the name of the Temple with caissons. There is also a "Beautiful temple". However, even after the victory of the Christians, the secret worship of pagan deities remained in Uplistsikhe for a very long time.
The main historical attraction of Uplistsikhe is the Tamara Hall. In the middle ages, it was the Royal residence. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Georgian state flourished, which was ruled by kings from the Bagration dynasty. The reign of Queen Tamara is considered its peak. She was crowned in 1178 as co-ruler of her father George III in the main hall of the rock-hewn town of Uplistsikhe. After her father`s death, she was re-crowned at the Gelati monastery in Kutaisi. Queen Tamara did a lot to spread Christianity in Georgia and was even canonized as a Saint.
To this day, many halls have been preserved in Uplistsikhe: "Hall with one column", "Great hall", "Red hall". The walls of all the temples and halls are still covered with soot from the hearths. In 904, the Christian Church of Uplistsule (Prince`s Church) was built on a hill above the main buildings of Uplistsikhe. This three-nave Basilica is fully preserved to this day and is an active temple.
The heyday of the rock-hewn town of Uplistsikhe occurred during the reign of the Bagration kings, in particular, during the period after the coronation of Queen Tamara. Despite the powerful defensive structures created by nature itself, the city was captured several times during the invasions of the Mongol-Tatar troops in the 13-14 centuries. After that, Uplistsikhe finally fell into disrepair. Despite this, people continued to live here until 1968, when they were evicted at the insistence of Georgian archaeologists.
