Prometheus Cave

CavesImereti,Georgia

Georgia's largest cave, twenty-two halls dissolved out of limestone, six of them opened along a lit walkway with an underground river at the far end.

September·Peaking now

Jun–Sep

The season is at its fullest. The drier summer usually drops the river low enough for the boat trips to run, though in August the water can fall too low even for those. Take the first tour of the day: midday coaches from Kutaisi and Batumi crowd the walkway in July and August.

Year-round The lit halls of Georgia's largest cave stay a damp 14°C year-round, their columns washed in coloured light; the underground boat ride runs only when the river is low enough.

Prometheus Cave is the largest cave in Georgia, in the limestone hills of Imereti near the town of Tskaltubo, twenty-two halls dissolved out of the rock over millions of years, six of them opened along a lit walkway of 1.4 kilometres that ends at an underground river you can leave by boat. The halls are vast, ceilings bristling with stalactites and floors rising in heavy stalagmites, curtains and columns, and the lighting picks them out in colours that change as you walk; the largest chamber is the size of a cathedral, and the air stays at about fourteen degrees all year, so the cave is a refuge from the summer heat of the plain. The path descends through the six halls in about an hour, with a guide, past a lake, petrified waterfalls and a stone forest, and at the far end the walkway meets the river, where a boat carries you a few hundred metres through a flooded tunnel and out into daylight instead of walking back. The cave was found in 1984, opened to visitors in 2011, and named for a Greek myth that legend set in this very region: Prometheus, chained to a rock in the Caucasus for stealing fire from the gods, and the Argonauts, who sailed to Colchis, the kingdom of western Georgia, for the Golden Fleece. The six halls carry those names, Argonauts, Colchis, Medea, Prometheus and the rest, given at the opening; the Caucasus already had its own fire-stealer, Amirani, chained to a peak in Georgian legend for the same crime, and the locals will tell you the Greek one is a copy. Tskaltubo, the town nearby, was a spa resort of the Soviet Union, and its abandoned sanatoriums stand in the park a few kilometres from the cave. Prometheus Cave is a cathedral under a hill named for a thief, and the way out is by water.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Bring a layer even in July — the cave holds a damp 14°C year-round and the paved path is often wet underfoot, so warm clothing and shoes with grip make the walk comfortable.
You go in a timed, guided group, not at your own pace — tickets sold on site include the guide, and tours run in several languages, so ask at the desk for the next English departure.
Aim for the first tour of the day — coach groups from Kutaisi and Batumi arrive around midday, and the narrow walkway bottlenecks when several groups meet inside.

Things to do

1
Walk the lit path into Georgia's largest cave
Descend the paved 1.4-kilometre walkway that links six vast halls, ceilings bristling with stalactites and floors rising in heavy stalagmites. Banks of coloured light wash the giant columns in purple, crimson, turquoise and gold, and each chamber is lit to its own mood, so the same rock reads differently from one to the next. Look past the columns to the walls, where sheets of flowstone hang in curtain-like folds that look frozen mid-pour. It is a gentle, hour-long walk, cool and damp the whole way.
2
Pass through the myth-named halls
Each of the six chambers takes its name from the Argonaut legend — Medea, Colchis, Prometheus. Coloured light sweeps their stalactites and flowstone walls as a guide leads you from one cavern to the next, following the myth deeper underground.
3
Boat on the underground river
Instead of walking back the way you came, you can leave the cave by boat along the underground river at the far end of the path. The trip is short, the ceiling low and the water cold, and the boat glides out through the last of the lit rock to the exit. It runs on a separate ticket and is cancelled whenever the river is too high.

Watch

Nearby

9.3 km