Cave Cities

the remains of primarily medieval inhabited areas (towns, castles, monasteries, and villages), within which there are natural or artificial caves, usually of sandstone, limestone, loess, or loess-like rock. Cave cities have been found in the USSR, on the Balkan Peninsula, and in Italy, China (Tun-huang), India (Ajanta), and Turkey. In the USSR, the most important cave cities are Uplistsikhe and Vardzia in Georgia and Kalamita (Inkerman), Eski-Kermen, Chufut-Kale, and Mangup in the Crimea. The caves served as dwellings and as places of worship, burial, or business and were usually combined with surface structures. After the cave cities ceased to be inhabited, the surface structures fell into ruin, and only the caves, which were on the sides of ravines and river valleys, remained. Hence, these settlements were given the general name of cave cities. In the USSR and a number of other countries, cave cities have been set aside as preserves where research is conducted and excursions for tourists are provided.