Melouri Cave Natural Monument ( ka, მელოურის მღვიმე) is a

karst cave Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

located near village Melouri (8 km from village Kumistavi) in

Tsqaltubo Municipality Tsqaltubo ( ka, წყალტუბოს მუნიციპალიტეტი) is a district of Georgia, in the region of Imereti. Its main town is Tskaltubo. Tskaltubo Municipality is a self-governing unit in the Imereti region. People ...

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 munic ...

region of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, 418 meters above sea level. Melouri Cave is one of the largest caves in Georgia. It is part of extensive ''Tsqaltubo Cave system'' which also includes nearby cave Didghele.

Morphology

Melouri cave has overall length of at least 15 km and boasts two naturally formed canyons with beautiful underground waterfalls. Cave carved in ''Sataphlia-Tskaltubo karst massif'' The entrance to the cave is at the bottom of the 8-10 meters deep ditch. Near the entrance cave is difficult to navigate due to presence of gypsum limestone boulders of up to 15 m height. Further inside cave pass is clearer with characteristic network of

fissure A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure A ...

s, their intersections are 30 m by 40 m wide. At the end of the sequence of halls, a few kilometers long, there is an erosion canyon with an underground river. It creates waterfalls as it traverses the canyon and in the last hall there is a siphon lake. Interior of the cave is naturally decorated with chemical sediments:

stalactite A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble an ...

s and large

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically ...

s. The cave is inhabited by bats, spiders, and beetles. Exploring Melouri Cave is not extremely challenging but caving equipment is required: headlamp and waterproof caving boots. The cave has not been completely investigated and has many unknown corridors and branches.Melouri Cave
National Parks of Georgia

Fauna

The inhabitants of the cave include '' Bergrothia.'' Barjadze, Sh., Arabuli, T., Mumladze, L., Maghradze, E., Asanidze, Z., Kutalia T.
Melouri cave
2019, Cave Biodiversity of Georgia, Open Access Database. Institute of Zoology at

Ilia State University Ilia State University ISU (Georgian: ილიას სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი) was founded in 2006 as a result of a merger of six different academic institutions with long and varied histories. Currentl ...

References

Natural monuments of Georgia (country) Caves of Georgia (country) Protected areas established in 2011 Geography of Imereti {{Georgia-geo-stub

Morphology

Fauna

See also

References