Chiatura

Chiatura appears suddenly as the road descends towards the Kvirila river gorge: vertical walls of black basalt, grey apartment blocks distributed on terraces at different heights and, strung across the sky from bank to bank, the cables of the Soviet cable cars. The cabins sway slowly over the drop below. It is an image that is hard to forget and unlike almost anywhere else in Georgia.

The Chiatura cable cars were built in the 1950s to connect the bottom of the gorge — where the manganese mines are — with the upper neighbourhoods of the city. Some still run with the original cabins: rusted metal sheeting, wooden floors that creak underfoot, a lever that serves as a brake and a door that closes with an iron latch. The ticket costs a few cents. The usual passengers are residents with market bags, not tourists. Riding in one gives a perspective of the Kvirila gorge that cannot be gained from the ground: the entire city hangs suspended beneath your feet.

Chiatura has no tourist infrastructure. The restaurants are basic, hotels are scarce and nobody will explain anything unless you ask. That is part of what draws those who come: it functions as a real city of miners and pensioners, with 20th-century industrial architecture that has neither been restored nor promoted. The damp smell of the gorge, the metallic sound of the cables and the light that arrives sliced between the buildings complete the experience better than any museum.

The subsoil of Chiatura contains some of the richest manganese deposits in the world. Industrial extraction began in the late 19th century, when European entrepreneurs — among them the Rothschild group — invested in mining. The city grew rapidly during the Soviet era: the Chiatura manganese mines were considered strategic for the USSR's steel industry. The cable cars were built in the 1950s because the Kvirila river gorge made it impractical to connect the neighbourhoods by road without major construction works. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, production declined and the city lost much of its population, but the mines continue to operate with foreign investment and the cable cars were never replaced.

• Soviet cable cars The network of cabins connecting the floor of the Kvirila gorge with the upper neighbourhoods is the heart of Chiatura. They run on irregular schedules — best to ask at the centre or hotel where the nearest stop is — and the journey takes between 5 and 8 minutes. The fare is nominal (less than 0.20 GEL). Bring small coins.
• Kvirila river gorge The black basalt walls of the gorge are best seen from the pedestrian suspension bridges that cross the Kvirila river at several points in the centre. At dusk the light grazes the vertical walls and mist descends from the rim in autumn and winter.
• Perevisa neighbourhood One of the upper neighbourhoods accessible by cable car. Soviet apartment blocks, washing lines between windows and views over the mining installations and the gorge. Daily life here has not changed much in decades.
• Katskhi Monastery About 20 km from Chiatura, a 10th-century medieval church perched on a limestone pillar about 40 metres high. Only monks can climb up daily; visitors access it with prior permission. The visit combines well with Chiatura on the same day from Kutaisi.
• Chiatura central market A covered market where you can buy shoti bread, vegetables and see local life without tourist filters. Residents arrive with the bags they later take up on the cable cars.

Photo gallery

Chiatura is about 220 km from Tbilisi. There are marshrutkas from Didube station in Tbilisi (3.5–4 hours, around 10–12 GEL). From Kutaisi the distance is about 70 km and there are more frequent direct connections (about 60–90 min). There is no direct train to Chiatura. Katskhi Monastery is 20 km to the north, reachable by local taxi from the city.

Autumn (September–October) is the most photogenic time in the Kvirila gorge: the foliage changes colour and the light is softer. In winter fog can cover the gorge for days and wind halts some cable cars; uncertainty must be accepted. Summer is hot at the bottom of the gorge but the cable cars run more regularly. Spring, with green hillsides, is also a good option.