Prometheus (Kumistavi) Cave

Prometheus Cave is Georgia's grandest and most visited show cave, set in the village of Kumistavi in the Tskaltubo municipality of the western Imereti region, just outside the famous Tskaltubo spa town. This vast karst system was carved over millions of years as the Cumberi and Kuma rivers slowly dissolved the limestone bedrock.

History & Discovery

Georgian speleologists led by Jumber Jishkariani discovered the cave in the early 1980s; work to convert it into a tourist site began in 1985 but was halted in 1990 with the Soviet collapse. After extensive restoration, the cave reopened to visitors on 26 May 2011 and quickly became the star nature stop around Kutaisi.

Inside the Cave & Boat Ride

The system reaches roughly 11 kilometres in total length, and six of its 22 halls are open to the public. A well-maintained, colourfully lit walking trail of about 1.4 kilometres threads through the Argonauts, Kolkheti, Medea, Love, Prometheus and Iberia halls, past soaring stalactites, rising stalagmites and dramatic curtain and column formations that the theatrical multicoloured lighting turns into an underground palace. At the end of the trail, visitors may take an enchanting ten-minute boat ride along the subterranean Kuma river, an experience that sets Prometheus apart from its regional rivals.

Visiting, Access & Tips

Turkish agencies favour Prometheus because the classic Georgia tour that crosses at the Sarp border and runs along the Batumi-Kutaisi axis passes naturally by the cave; being open year-round, holding a constant interior temperature of 14 degrees and being weather-proof make it a dependable stop in every season. The average visit runs one to one and a half hours including the guided tour and boat ride, stretching toward two hours with parking and ticket queues. On guided itineraries the cave is usually paired with Kutaisi's UNESCO-listed Gelati and Bagrati monuments, the dinosaur footprints of the neighbouring Sataplia Nature Reserve, and the eerie abandoned Soviet sanatoriums of Tskaltubo, forming a half-day or full-day nature-and-culture route. For photographers, the illuminated great halls, the boat jetty and the underground river offer the most striking frames. The visitor centre is modern, with ample parking suited to tour coaches; however, the trail has 880 steps and steep, damp and slippery passages, so the cave interior is not wheelchair accessible. The best time to visit is spring and autumn; summer is peak season, so arriving early on weekends and school holidays reduces waiting.