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Vardzia is a cave monastery site in southern Georgia, excavated from the slopes of the Erusheti Mountain on the left bank of the Mtkvari River, thirty kilometres from Aspindza. The main period of construction was the second half of the twelfth century. The caves stretch along the cliff for some five hundred metres and in up to nineteen tiers. The Church of the Dormition, dating to the 1180s during the golden ageof Tamar and Rustaveli, has an important series of wall paintings. The site was largely abandoned after the Ottoman takeover in the sixteenth century. Now part of a state heritage reserve, the extended area of Vardzia-Khertvisi has been submitted for future inscription on the UNESCOWorld Heritage List.
The greater Vardzia area includes also the early eleventh-century church at Zeda Vardzia and the tenth- to twelfth-century rock village and cave churches of Ananauri. The main lower site was carved from the cliff's central stratum of tufaceous breccia at an elevation of thirteen hundred metres above sea level. It is divided into an eastern and a western part by the Church of the Dormition. In the eastern part of the complex are seventy-nine separate cave dwellings, in eight tiers and with a total of 242 rooms, including six chapels, "Tamar's Room", a meeting room, reception chamber, pharmacy, and twenty-five wine cellars; 185 wine jars sunk into the floor document the importance of viticulture to the monastic economy. In the western part, between the bell tower and the main church, are a further forty houses, in thirteen tiers and with a total of 165 rooms, including six chapels, a refectory with a bakery, other ovens for baking bread, and a forge. Beyond the bell tower the complex rises to nineteen tiers, with steps leading to a cemetery. Infrastructure includes access tunnels, water facilities, and provision for defence.
The Church of the Dormition was the central spiritual and monumental focus of the site. Carved similarly from the rock, its walls reinforced in stone, it measures 8.2 metres by 14.5 metres , rising to a height of metres . Both church and narthex are painted; these paintings are of "crucial significance in the development of the Medieval Georgian mural painting".[3] Its patron, Rati Surameli, is commemorated in a donor portrait on the north wall; the accompanying inscription reads "Mother of God, accept ... the offering of your servant Rati, eristavi of Kartli, who has zealously decorated this holy church to your glory".
This cave monastery was built during the “Golden Age” of feudal Georgia. Built between 1184 and 1186, it is a unique example of cave architecture. It is thought to have been of great cultural significance, having been built during the time of Rustaveli. At this time, Georgian art, science, and literature flourished.
Originally built as a military base by Giorgi III, it was Queen Tamar who was responsible for the change in function to a more religious site. The legend has it that when the workmen finished where they had started removing the rock, at the end of each day their tools would mysteriously have been moved to another location. After this happened a number of times it was considered to be divine intervention and the new location became the chosen place. It therefore had religious significance form the start. It is also thought that the city’s name derived from something Queen Tamar said. Tamar got lost in the caves when she was young and out riding with her uncle Giorgi. He called ‘where are you?’ she replied, ‘ak var dzia,’ meaning ‘here I am’.
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