Kutaisi

We took a back road from Gori to Kutaisi. On our way we stopped at a small wine maker to taste his product.  First he showed us the clay urns buried in the ground that keep the wine the right temperature as it ages.



Then we sat down in his yard and sampled red wine, white wine that he dipped from the underground urns and also some cognac along with some bread and cheese.  I bought a bottle of the cognac.



We continue forward, stopping briefly in the village of Didi Katskhi to admire a monastery perched on top of a cliff far above the road (look carefully).   I was sorry we did not have time to hike up.

 Before long we stopped at a farm house for lunch.  The farmer had added a large room at the front of his house where he served groups like ours a delicious lunch.




We drove through Kutaisi and on to the Prometheus Cave where Georgians claim Prometheus was chained to a rock.  The cave is a mile long with many chambers but it was not discovered until 1985.  Now it is developed as a tourist attraction with guides leading groups from one room to the next.

The entrance gives little hint of the magnitude of what is behind it.



LED lights illuminate the rooms.  Some are large, many have water on the floor but it was hard to take good pictures.









After walking through the caves for an hour we got a bus ride back up the hill to the beginning.We arrived in Kutaisi early enough that we had some free time to explore the city on our own.  I took a taxi up the hill to the Bagrati Cathedral, one of the biggest churches in Georgia.  Built by King Bagrati in 1003 it was badly damaged by invading Turks in 1692.  I came twenty years ago and admired the ruins but since then it has been completely restored.  The restoration is somewhat controversial as there is much new construction. UNESCO removed Bagrati Cathedral from its World Heritage sites in 2017, considering its major reconstruction detrimental to its integrity and authenticity.





Behind the cathedral are remnants of a castle built in the sixth century and wrecked by Turks in 1769.





I admired the view before walking back into the city in time for dinner.



We got up early the next morning for a ride in 4 wheel drive vehicles into the mountains and to Ushguli.  Click here.

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