Prometheus Cave

Prometheus Cave, known locally as Kumistavi Cave, lies near Tskaltubo in the Imereti region of western Georgia, within the Sataplia–Tskaltubo karst massif. It has about 11 km of passages and 22 halls, of which six are open on a walkway of about 1.8 km. The cave is a small part of a much bigger system joined by an underground river, of which about 30 km has so far been explored.

Georgian speleologists led by Jumber Jishkariani discovered and surveyed the cave in the early 1980s. Work to open it to tourists began in 1985. By 1989 a walking route of about a kilometre, stairs and a 150-metre exit tunnel had been built, and small groups were visiting under temporary lights. Then the Soviet Union collapsed and the money ran out. For years a local man guarded the empty cave against vandals, and a statue of him and his dog now stands at the entrance. The cave takes its name from the Greek myth that Prometheus was chained in these mountains.

The show route leads through the decorated halls to about 80 metres below the surface, and the tunnel built in the 1980s serves as the exit. The cave is also a living ecosystem. Biologists have recorded around twenty genera of small invertebrates here, from millipedes, springtails and beetles to snails and a cave shrimp.

Getting there

The cave is close to the village of Kumistavi near Tskaltubo, about 14 km from Kutaisi. David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport (KUT) is about 24 km away.