ნავენახევის მღვიმე

Navenakhevi Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Navenakhevi village in Terjola Municipality in Imereti region of Western Georgia. (42.242131, 42.862446)
Open:	All year daily 10-18. [2023]
Fee:	Adults GEL 8, Foreigners GEL 11.50, Children (6-18) GEL 5.50, Children (0-5) free, Seniors (65+) GEL 5.50. [2023]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	LED Lighting Coloured Light
Dimension:	A=235 m asl, T=13 °C, L=250 m.
Guided tours:	V=20,000/a [2000]
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Sh. Barjadze, T. Arabuli, L. Mumladze, E. Maghradze, Z. Asanidze, T. Kutalia (2019): Navenakhevi Cave 2019, Cave Biodiversity of Georgia, Open Access Database. Institute of Zoology at Ilia State University.
Address:	Navenakhevi Cave. Teona Tskhadadze, Visitor Service Specialist, Tel: +995-593-789178. E-mail: Aleksandre Gigineishvili, Service manager, Tel: +995-595-26-21-37. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

2007	Navenakhevi Cave Natural Monument established.
15-DEC-2017	cave closed for refurbishment.
25-NOV-2018	reopened to the public.
24-JUL-2019	temporary closure for technical research works.

Description

ნავენახევის მღვიმე (Navenakhevi Cave) was named after the nearby town Navenakhevi. The cave formed in Cretaceous limestones. It has two levels.

There is a very detailed cave description available. It's the only one, and it is really weird in Georgian, translated into a foreign language it becomes garbage. Unfortunately this garbage made it on the Wikipedia page. So we have actually no idea how this cave looks. Since 2007 they have a government office with several full time employees, which is responsible for promoting about a dozen sites in this karst area. Unfortunately they were not able to produce a detailed description of this or the other sites so far. We can only guess that the guided tours are of similar quality.

The cave was open as a show cave for some time, it was quite popular in the 1980s. At some point it became unpopular and was closed for some years. It was completely renovated in winter 2018/18, the rusty iron railings replaced by shiny corrugated steel, the light system replaced by a modern LED system. Unfortunately they still have coloured light, but nevertheless it's an improvement.