Uplistsikhe, Cave city and archaeological site in Shida Kartli, Georgia

Uplistsikhe is an ancient city carved directly into a mountain, consisting of many chambers, tunnels, and rooms connected to one another. The entire complex was created by hollowing out the rock, forming large halls, residential areas, and underground passages that remain visible today.

Uplistsikhe became a pagan cult centre at the turn of the 2nd–1st millennia BCE, after a fire destroyed the sanctuary on Katlanishevi hill 3 km west. By the 4th century BCE it was a city, and in the late 4th century BCE its population occupied the whole southern slope, 9.5 hectares. Several hundred chambers, temples, streets and fortifications were cut in the rock during the Hellenistic period, when it served as the main cult centre of the kingdom of Iberia. It lost importance from the 4th century CE, changed hands in the 9th–10th centuries, and its military role ended with the Mongol invasions of the 13th century; it was finally abandoned in the 19th century.

The name Uplistsikhe means "lord's fortress", from the Georgian upali (lord); medieval chroniclers linked its founding to the legendary Uplos, son of Mtskhetos. Excavations uncovered a 9th–10th-century three-nave brick basilica, almost unchanged, with a raised central nave, a narthex and a south entrance. Finds of wine presses, cellars and grape pips show winemaking here.

The inner city covers 4 hectares on the southern slope, entered from the south through the main gates and the small rock gate; a 150 m long, 10 m high tunnel cut in the rock descends to the Mtkvari. Paths are worn into the sandstone and uneven underfoot, so wear sturdy shoes. Some eastern sections are fenced off and unexcavated.

The large hall in the upper part of the city has a semicircular vault cut with octagonal caissons, a detail showing how the rock was worked. North of the inner city, a 150-metre tunnel, 10 metres high and 2 metres wide, cut through the rock, was one of the largest road structures on the old Transcaucasian trade route.