Things to Do in Chiatura

Chiatura is a Soviet-built manganese mining town roughly four hours from Tbilisi, dramatically strung with rusting cable cars that still haul residents up the surrounding cliffs to their homes — a handful of the original Soviet ropeways still run and can be ridden for the view alone. Nearby, the Katskhi Pillar, a 40-metre limestone outcrop topped with a tiny monk's cell, is one of Georgia's stranger sights and usually visited on the same trip out from Kutaisi.