Motena Cave Natural Monument ( ka, მოთენას 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 0.7 km to the south from village First Balda (Pirveli Baldi ) in Martvili Municipality in

Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti (Georgian: სამეგრელო-ზემო სვანეთი) is a region (Mkhare) in western Georgia with a population of 308,358 (2021) and a surface of . The region has Zugdidi as its administrative center, w ...

region of Georgia, 437 meters above sea level. Cave is located on left bank of Abasha river. In Middle Ages Motena cave was integral part of the now lost fortress. Motena 7

Morphology

Motena Cave is a

, formed in Askhi karst massif. The total length of the cave is 75 m. It has two

storey A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...

with big hall on each connected by a narrow passage. The first hall is 30 m in length and 24–25 m in height.Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
/ref> Cave is naturally decorated with many

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 ...

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, travertine cascades and cave curtains. Part of the cave has collapsed and mortared stone wall is protecting cave interior.
მოთენას მღვიმის ბუნების ძეგლი
/ref>

Fauna

The inhabitants of the cave are spiders and insects, namely ''

Trachysphaera ''Trachysphaera'' is a genus of pill millipedes in the order Glomerida Glomerida is an order of pill-millipedes found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. They superficially resemble pill-bugs or woodlice, and can enroll into a protective ...

Heteromurus ''Heteromurus'' is a genus of slender springtails in the family Entomobryidae Entomobryidae, sometimes called "slender springtails", is a family of springtails characterised by having an enlarged fourth abdominal segmentation (biology), segm ...

Lepidocyrtus ''Lepidocyrtus'' is a genus of slender springtails in the family Entomobryidae Entomobryidae, sometimes called "slender springtails", is a family of springtails characterised by having an enlarged fourth abdominal segmentation (biology), seg ...

, Tomocerus, Sphaerozetes, Chamobates, Porobelba, Adaugammarus, Parasitus,

Pergamasus ''Pergamasus'' is a genus of mites in the family Parasitidae. Species * ''Pergamasus alpestris'' (Berlese, 1903) * ''Pergamasus alpinus'' (Berlese, 1903) * '' Pergamasus atushiensis'' (Ma & Ye, 1999) * '' Pergamasus barbarus'' (Be ...

Xiphocaridinella ''Xiphocaridinella'' is a genus of shrimps belonging to the family Atyidae. The species of this genus are found in Western Asia. Species: *''Xiphocaridinella ablaskiri'' *''Xiphocaridinella dbari'' *''Xiphocaridinella fagei'' *''Xiphocaridi ...

,Marin, Ivan. (2019)
A new stygobiotic Xiphocaridinella (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) from the Motena Cave, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region of Georgia, Caucasus.
Zootaxa. 4648. 592-600. 10.11646/zootaxa.4648.3.12. Troglocaridicola, Scutariella,'' and '' Tectocepheus.'' Barjadze, Sh., Arabuli, T., Mumladze, L., Maghradze, E., Asanidze, Z., Kutalia, T
Motena Cave
Cave Biodiversity of Georgia, Open Access Database, 2019. 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 2007 Geography of Imereti {{Georgia-geo-stub

Morphology

Fauna

See also

References