Region1 h 5 min by car from Tbilisi2 h 20 min by car from Kutaisi4 h 30 min by car from BatumiPopulation 263,3824,807 km²
Shida Kartli is a region — a region of Georgia, about 1 h 5 min by car from Tbilisi, 2 h 20 min from Kutaisi and 4 h 30 min from Batumi. Home to about 263,382 people.
Shida Kartli is the historic heartland of Georgia along the middle Kura river, with Gori — Stalin's birthplace, and the site of an idiosyncratic museum — at its centre. It is a region of fortresses, cave towns and orchards, an hour west of Tbilisi and on the way to almost everywhere.
The cave city of Uplistsikhe, carved from a rock outcrop above the river, was a pagan and then Christian centre for nearly three thousand years; its halls, wine cellars and theatre are open to walk through. Ateni Sioni church, in a vineyard gorge to the south, has some of the finest early medieval frescoes in the country. Around Kaspi and Kareli, small family wineries revive the region's own grape varieties.
Shida Kartli is ideal as a stop between Tbilisi and Kutaisi or Borjomi, and Uplistsikhe alone justifies the detour.
