Chiatura

Chiatura sits in a narrow gorge in Imereti and has mined manganese since the 1870s, with the ore worked in the cliffs above the town and the workers housed on terraces and plateaus around it. Because the walls are too steep for roads, a network of aerial cableways was built from the 1950s to move people up and down, and for decades the town ran on them. The original cabins, small rusting boxes with no windows to speak of, were withdrawn from service in 2019 on safety grounds, and new lines with modern cabins have been opened since. The mining infrastructure, the terraced settlements and the gorge itself remain, and the Katskhi pillar is nearby.

What to look for

• Cable cars across the gorge - the ropeway network the town runs on.
• Terraced settlements on the cliffs - housing built above the mines.
• Manganese mining infrastructure - the works along the valley.
• The Katskhi pillar nearby - the rock column with a church on top.

When to go

April to October. A day. Which cable car lines are running changes; check locally rather than relying on older accounts. The gorge is dark early in the day.

What to expect

The old Soviet-era cabins that made the town famous no longer run and photographs of them are historic. Air quality in the gorge is poor and the town is visibly worn. Some mining areas are off limits. Facilities for visitors are minimal.

Nearby

The Katskhi pillar is west; Zestaponi lies south-west.

Key facts