Navenakhevi Cave Natural Monument ( ka, ნავენახევის 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 ...

near village Navenakhevi in

Terjola Municipality Terjola ( ka, თერჯოლის მუნიციპალიტეტი) is a district of Georgia, in the region of Imereti. Its main town is Terjola. Population: 35,563 (2014 census) Area: 357 km2 Politics Terjola Municipal A ...

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 Western

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 ...

, 235 m above sea level. In 2017 cave was refurbished to be used as a tourist attraction.

Morphology

Cave carved in ''Okriba karst massif''

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

has two floors and four big halls with total height of 250 m. The entrance with height - 0.6 m and width 2 m opens at the bottom of the hardened cavern. Cave is divided into two parts in 30 meters from the entrance. The second floor is connected to the main hall with small steps. A large hall on the second floor is 15 m high. Cave is naturally decorated with

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 and

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 of various shapes. Abundant material of rubble, clay slabs are present throughout the cave and it branch-bony formations are well preserved. At exit cave is stuck with a stalactite with thickness of 7 meters. Navenakhevi Cave
National Parks of Georgia

Fauna

The inhabitants of the cave include '' Metaphorura, Coecobrya, Lepidocyrtus,

Folsomia ''Folsomia'' is a genus of elongate-bodied springtails in the family Isotomidae. There are more than 110 described species in ''Folsomia''. Species * ''Folsomia candida'' * ''Folsomia fimetaria ''Folsomia fimetaria'' is an elongate-bodied spri ...

, Achipteria, Conchogneta, Sphaerozetes, Chamobates, Belba, Minunthozetes, Phauloppia, Pantelozetes, Eupelops, Pseudotyphlopasilia'' and '' Tectocepheus.'' Barjadze, Sh., Arabuli, T., Mumladze, L., Maghradze, E., Asanidze, Z., Kutalia T.
Navenakhevi 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

{{Protected areas of Georgia (country) Natural monuments of Georgia (country) Caves of Georgia (country) Protected areas established in 2007 Geography of Imereti

Morphology

Fauna

See also

References