excursion to Vardzia - Caucasian summer 2024 - 11
from Yerevan to Goris including visits to Chor Virap and Noravank
from Haghpat in Armenia to Tbilisi in Georgia
Tbilisi and back home
26.07.2024 - excursion to Vardzia
Today we are going on an excursion to the Vardzia cave monastery [↗]. We start at 9am because the hotel only offers breakfast from 8am and it's just a 1.5-hour drive. The weather forecast says something of heavy rain beginning around 1pm, so let's hope we're done when it starts.
The drive takes us along a winding river. The road is not the best, but the landscape is much nicer than in the last few days. At one point they are building a dam, so in two or three years there could be a nice reservoir. Although the river has enough water and has some rapids, I don't see any whitewater rafting here.
We stop at Khertvisi fortress [↗], a nice looking one on the hill above a village. Here they have a suspension bridge over the river. The bridge is solid but shaky. Of course, the best view is from the other side.
The monastery is huge. Largely built in the late 12th century it could host some 50.000 people. Most walls were destroyed by a severe earthquake in 1283 and the complex was finally destroyed by the Persians in 1551. The cliff with the caves is 500 meters high. Today you can still visit around 750 rooms on 8 floors.
The tour begins in a large parking lot, where you have to pay 5 Euros entrance fee and 66 cents for a shuttle to the horse stable at the lowest cave level. The shuttle is optional, but it makes no sense to walk up along the road.
At the beginning, the stairs are easy to walk, with solid handrails where necessary. With proper shoes, the way to the church should be doable for most. Around the church, there are some narrow and flat pathways for those who are curious. From here, the steps are a little more uneven and high in places. What is very convenient is that the tour is set up in a way that people are walking in one direction only. This means that it is rare for someone to walk towards you on the narrow steps.
At the end, steps lead down, partly through a tunnel, where you have to be careful not to bump your head. Finally, you end up back at the entrance where you started your visit with the shuttle.
The highlight is definitely the church with its frescos. The caves are interesting at first, but soon look very similar. Still, it is absolutely worthwhile to come here. Most of the group, including myself, needed 1 to 1,5 hours for the visit.
Opposite the entrance, there are some restaurants with nice seating areas by the river. So, we have lunch here, before going back to Achalziche.
The predicted rain doesn't start until around 3pm when we're already on the way back to the hotel. It then turns into a thunderstorm in the late afternoon.
