Sataplia Strict Nature Reserve

Sataplia Strict Nature Reserve

The Sataplia Strict Nature Reserve is situated 10 km from the city of Kutaisi in Georgia's Imereti region. The name Sataplia can be translated as "honey place", and indeed bees once lived in small holes and caves and honey was collected by the local people. Sataplia Strict Nature Reserve is one of the Imereti Caves Protected Areas, which also comprises Sataplia Managed Reserve and Prometheus Cave Natural Monument. The Natural Park Sataplia was established in 1935 by Petre Chabukiani, to safeguard the newly found karst cave with its exotic stalactites and stalagmites, and the Colchian Forest, geological and archaeological sites. In 1957 the park was extended to its present boundaries. During 2010 and 2011, the Sataplia Managed Reserve was upgraded to receive tourists: a visitors' center was opened, a coffeehouse in the center of the park, a small museum, a little park with dinosaur models and a glass viewing platform built above the cliff. In addition, the main karst cave was enhanced with lighting effects and a safe walkway. The park has a total area of 350 hectares, of which 348 hectares are covered with forests. The relief of the terrain is mountainous. The reserve has a crater of an extinct volcano, a place of the remains of a Stone Age man, and fossilized tracks of dinosaurs. Sataplia's major cave was found in 1925 and is approximately 900 meters long. The Colchian Forest of Mount Sataplia, which covers 98% of the area, has both alpine flora and subtropical plants, but many tree species are threatened with extinction. Common inhabitants of the park are jackals, foxes, squirrels, martens and badgers. But sometimes there is a roe deer and a wolf.