Original subtitles

[narrator] Vestiges of opulence in an active no-man's-land.

This ill-fated coup sealed the fate of this summer paradise.

[narrator] Two moldering bastions with a hopeful tale.

[Michele Mitchell] These structures saw slavery at its worst.

But, ended up becoming constructions of freedom.

[narrator] And, a frozen shell built on a burning passion.

The whole story had began with one man's pursuit of love.

[narrator] Decaying relics,

ruins of lost worlds,

sites haunted by the past,

their secrets waiting to be revealed.

In Eastern Cyprus is an entire neighborhood

closed to the world for decades.

[Lynette Nusbacher] Famagusta is a lovely city.

But, as you move along the coast, suddenly, you get wire,

you get signs telling you not to go any further,

you get signs telling you not to go any further,

you feel like you're in a warzone.

[narrator] Inside this forbidden zone is a mass of crumbling concrete.

Several high-rise buildings face the sea

with these spectacular seafront views,

they must have been hotels.

[Geoff Wawro] Behind them, you have these extensive neighborhoods

of beautiful middle-class homes all empty.

[Sascha Auerbach] Weeds now overrun the deserted streets,

nature is starting to reclaim this town.

[narrator] There are no obvious signs of war damage.

[narrator] So, what happened to this once jewel of the Mediterranean?

[Auerbach] One time, it's streets were packed with tourists.

But, one summer, they were gone and they never came back again.

[Ata Atun] Two checkpoints are still existing.

And, without accessing from the checkpoints you cannot enter to Varosha.

[narrator] Beyond the barricades

lies a warren of deserted streets and derelict buildings.

Professor Ata Atun imagined a very different future

when he was a young civil engineer in the early 1970s.

I had to work in this town,

so there are lots of buildings which I designed

with my brother who was an architect.

When I come here I always look at it with pleasure

with the memories of the past.

[narrator] These are the petrified relics of Varosha.

The closed off southern quarter of Famagusta City.

[Wawro] Varosha was just kind of a sleepy, back water, fishing village.

[Wawro] Varosha was just kind of a sleepy, back water, fishing village.

And, because of the tourist potential of that stretch of coastline

in the 1960s it starts getting developed as a beach resort.

With its modern investment, with its massive first-rate hotels,

it started to look a lot like Miami Beach.

This was where all the A-listers went, people like Brigitte Bardot,

Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor.

[narrator] A shopping district lined with designer boutiques

catered to the rich and famous.

[Atun] There are lots of shops, very nice places

which were selling products of the well-known companies.

So, Varosha became, not just a resort,

Varosha became the resort.

[narrator] Yet, beneath the glamour here,

mistrust had been festering across the island for centuries.

mistrust had been festering across the island for centuries.

[Nusbacher] In the middle-ages Cyprus was a Greek island.

But, a sizable ethnically Turkish population comes to Cyprus as well.

And, there is off-again, on-again tension

between the Turkish and Greek communities in Cyprus.

[narrator] Then, came a moment

that threatened to bring these tensions to a brutal climax.

For a long time, Cyprus was effectively a British colony.

And, in 1960, Cyprus gets its independence.

And there is hope, and there is promise, and there is joy.

And then, it all goes a little bit dark.

[narrator] A political partnership between the ethnic Greek

and Turkish communities was established.

But, the islands first president, Greek Cypriot Archbishop Makarios

wanted Cyprus unified with Greece.

In 1963, he proposed controversial changes in the constitution

that would bring an end to the power sharing arrangements.

The Turkish Cypriots, naturally, opposed unification with Greece.

[narrator] A fuse had been lit.

And, both sides exploded.

This ignited a killing spree in the capital of Nicosia.

[narrator] Armed factions roamed the streets.

And, homes and businesses were looted and set ablaze.

And, homes and businesses were looted and set ablaze.

In 1964 The United Nations stepped in

and separated the capitals Greek and Turkish communities.

In the aftermath of this bloody clash,

a buffer zone was created known as the Green Line.

And, this was patrolled by UN troops.

[narrator] Like Berlin, just a few years earlier, Nicosia became a divided city.

Varosha survived the conflict, but the stage had been set for its downfall.

[Auerbach] The buffer zone created the illusion of peace on the surface.

But, in July 1974, when Varosha

would have been packed with tourists tensions came to a head.

[narrator] Frustrated that Cyprus was still divided

the government in Athens decided to act.

Greek officers lead troops to the presidential palace and burned it to the ground.

Their target, President Makarios,

narrowly escaped with his life.

[Nusbacher] The people who are taking over

the Greek dominated government

are openly saying, that they're going to seek unification

with the military government in Greece.

[Auerbach] Five days later, the Turkish government

[Auerbach] Five days later, the Turkish government

responded by initiating Operation Attila,

sending in thousands of troops to protect Turkish Cypriot citizens.

The Turkish armed forces airdrop a thousand

airborne light infantry into northern Cyprus.

And, there is an amphibious invasion of about 3,000

and they move into northern Cyprus and eastern Cyprus in force.

[narrator] They would soon be bearing down on Varosha.

The tourists, they had no idea what was coming.

[narrator] In 1974, the tourist mecca of Varosha was in the path of a war.

After an attempt to unify Cyprus under Greek control,

Turkey launched an invasion code named Operation Attila.

[Wawro] This intervention changed the face of Cyprus.

[Wawro] This intervention changed the face of Cyprus.

In the course of Operation Attila you see major population transfers.

About 40,000 Turkish Cypriots living south, they go north into the Turkish zone.

160,000 Greeks living north in the Turkish zone, they go south.

[narrator] Varosha, with its majority Greek Cypriot population

was in the path of the advancing forces.

[Nusbacher] People who are vacationing,

who had gone to Varosha for a quiet holiday,

who had gone to Varosha for a quiet holiday,

are suddenly at the epicenter of what might become a hot war.

[narrator] Tourists and residents fearing a massacre, fled.

[narrator] Professor Ata Atun was with the Turkish Army when they entered Varosha.

It was a ghost town. Nobody was living there, we saw nobody in the town.

It was already evacuated or abandoned.

It was already evacuated or abandoned.

[narrator] Residents hoped that they might soon be able

to return to their homes and businesses.

But, it soon became clear this was not going to happen.

[Atun] To prevent the looting the Turkish Army just fenced the town.

It was surrounded by barbed wires

and entry check points were erected.

[narrator] Eventually, an agreement was reached

[narrator] Eventually, an agreement was reached

that would bring an end to the war in Cyprus.

It was a short war, lasting less than a month.

But, its effects are still felt to this day.

[narrator] Varosha was left cutoff within the city of Famagusta.

The buffer zone was reinforced and expanded across the whole length of the island.

[Wawro] And, you now have a Turkish Cypriot state

with its capital of Famagusta to the north of it.

And, south of the line,

you have Nicosia which essentially straddles

you have Nicosia which essentially straddles

the Green Line, but is the Greek capital.

[Auerbach] Since the fall of the Berlin Wall,

Nicosia now stands as the last divided capital in the world.

[narrator] Today, Varosha is slowly starting to open up again.

Under the supervision of the Turkish Cypriot government.

Visionary plans could help bring this ghost town

Visionary plans could help bring this ghost town

back to life and into the 21st century.

[Wawro] It was an interesting attempt

by Turkish and Greek Cypriots now working together

between communities to bring it back as an eco-city.

A, kind of, blueprint for how to build cities in the future.

So, there's some hope that that might result in a renaissance in Varosha.

But, only time will tell.

[narrator] On the bayou west of New Orleans,

two rotting structures cling to the water's edge.

They're laying down low, almost like an alligator waiting for its prey.

These thick powerful walls are now starting to shed some bricks.

[narrator] Inside, it seems they have been left to decay for centuries.

[Mitchell] There are dark tunnels, graffiti on the walls,

[Mitchell] There are dark tunnels, graffiti on the walls,

stalactites hanging down from the ceiling,

you really don't wanna be here.

They show the effects of being in a very damp, humid environment

and being battered by the elements.

[narrator] Their architecture leaves no doubt as to their intended purpose.

Clearly, these are brick fortifications

which dates them in the early 19th century.

[narrator] Built to defend against a foreign foe,

these moldering forts bore witness to America's most turbulent domestic moments.

these moldering forts bore witness to America's most turbulent domestic moments.

[Mitchell] It tells us the history of slavery at its worst

and freedom at its hopeful best.

[narrator] Raymond Berthelot is a local historian,

who has been coming to these forts for much of his life.

[Berthelot] Whenever I was a kid growing up, highway 90,

[Berthelot] Whenever I was a kid growing up, highway 90,

which runs right outside the fort,

was the major route to go towards the beaches in Biloxi, and Gulfport,

in the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

So, often times, when we'd take a Sunday drive,

stop at the forts, have a picnic,

before carrying on to spend a day at the beaches.

[narrator] Rarely, a destination in themselves today.

Forts Pike and Macomb

once worked in tandem to control a very different highway.

once worked in tandem to control a very different highway.

These two costal forts were meant to protect New Orleans from naval forces

entering Lake Pontchartrain from Lake Borgne.

Two main waterways that connected New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico.

[narrator] New Orleans' position at the end of the Mississippi River

had been lucrative.

But, it also made it a target.

The Mississippi River was the principle highway

The Mississippi River was the principle highway

of the United States for travel and trade.

You had to protect New Orleans as the likely place

where a lot of American exports would go out of the country

and where imports would come into the country.

Whoever controls that port controls the future of the United States.

[narrator] The importance of New Orleans

was made devastatingly clear in The War of 1812.

United States was a new nation wanting to assert their power.

United States was a new nation wanting to assert their power.

And, this was a real attack, this was a real threat from the British.

[narrator] The British were beaten back in 1815,

just 5 miles from the vital city.

But, the fledgling United States wouldn't let anyone get that close again.

When completed in 1827,

the forts used the latest military architecture

the forts used the latest military architecture

to protect the vital waterways.

Red bricks were used rather than wood and dirt.

And, the design was inspired by Napoleonic military structures.

They've got this curved front which was really quite groundbreaking for the time.

It allows for more cannons to protect the area along the water.

So here, what we're looking at is the carriage for a 32-pounder cannon.

So here, what we're looking at is the carriage for a 32-pounder cannon.

So, the cannon would sit on this carriage

with a train track going around the stone work here.

So, that way, the cannon could swivel and turn,

and fire out at ships passing by.

During war time,

this fort would have held a group of soldiers in the number of 400 to 450.

[narrator] Heavily armed to defend against foreign invaders,

[narrator] Heavily armed to defend against foreign invaders,

these forts would instead become embroiled in America's internal conflicts.

During the seminal war, the US government

attempted to push Indigenous people from their land in Florida.

[Katherine Landdeck] The idea of the United States government was,

to move these people out to the western states on to reservations.

[narrator] From 1837, these thick walls were repurposed

[narrator] From 1837, these thick walls were repurposed

to keep people not out, but in.

[Mitchell] They also needed somewhere to hold the imprisoned seminal people

who were waiting for their forced relocation.

And, Fort Pike had just the right position and accessibility.

[Berthelot] So, at any given time,

there might have been some 70, 80 seminal men, women, and children here.

At the height, this area that you see here

At the height, this area that you see here

would have housed some 237 prisoners.

[narrator] It's not known how many seminal people

were killed at the hands of the federal government.

Around 3,000 were forcibly moved to reservations.

But, a rupture in the constitutional fabric of the United States

would soon make Forts Pike and Macomb

a staging post for a new kind of fight back.

a staging post for a new kind of fight back.

Things changed, it was no longer a white man's fight.

[narrator] Originally built to protect New Orleans from foreign invaders,

in January 1861,

days before Louisiana seceded from the Union

a new force arrived at Forts Pike and Macomb.

The fort was manned by several US soldiers.

The fort was manned by several US soldiers.

And, Louisiana militia came and took the site over

and declared it as the property of Louisiana.

[Wawro] And they, in turn, are attacked from the sea by US forces.

Which actually don't have to bombard the fort, they just show up with a powerful fleet.

And they say, "Hey, look. We're gonna unleash hell, unless you surrender."

[narrator] New Orleans soon fell.

And, these forts became a base for a new kind of Union solider.

And, these forts became a base for a new kind of Union solider.

When the civil war started

Black men who wanted to fight were told that, it was a white man's war,

and they were turned away.

[narrator] But, after a brutal first year of war, this policy was rethought.

The Union Army desperately needed soldiers.

Formed from a combination

of free and formerly enslaved African American men,

many of these new recruits had to learn everything from scratch.

many of these new recruits had to learn everything from scratch.

Former slaves were not allowed near weapons when they first enlisted in the Union Army.

They therefore needed to be trained to use guns.

So that they would meet the standard of other Union soldiers.

These forts, once occupied by the Confederate troops aiming to subjugate them,

now became their drill yards.

[Mitchell] Once Black Americans joined the fight,

Fort Pike and Fort Macomb became training grounds for the US Colored Troops.

Fort Pike and Fort Macomb became training grounds for the US Colored Troops.

[Wawro] And so, here they worked on gunnery

using the guns in the fort itself.

And also, just basic drill in order to become, you know, federal troops

that could then be deployed against the Confederate States of America.

[narrator] The record of the African American soldiers

trained in these forts was exemplary.

The native guard units from Louisiana

actually participated in the siege of Port Hudson.

Which was the first time that African American troops were used in battle

Which was the first time that African American troops were used in battle

by the United States as a unified force.

[narrator] With the development of new military technologies

during the civil war, the forts were rendered obsolete.

They were soon abandoned to the elements.

But, their legacy lives on through the people who served here.

After the fort was abandoned

After the fort was abandoned

these African American troops go out west and become the buffalo soldiers,

so Fort Pike is a very significant aspect

of African American military history,

during and after the Civil War.

These structures saw slavery at its worst,

These structures saw slavery at its worst,

but ended up becoming constructions of freedom.

[narrator] Today, they are facing

a new kind of attack.

[Berthelot] These forts are a constant reminder

that as the coast of Louisiana slowly erodes,

we are losing not only our land mass,

but we are losing our history. We are losing our culture.

[narrator] On Croatia's Mount Medvednica,

[narrator] On Croatia's Mount Medvednica,

high above the city of Zagreb,

are the ruins of a ghastly facility.

[Dominic Selwood] The snow-coated roads

wind through the rugged mountain,

which is home to wild boars and wolves.

[Alicia Gutierrez-Romine] You get this ominous feeling.

You feel isolated and alone.

[Selwood] An extensive complex emerges out of the pine trees.

[narrator] It has clearly been exposed to the elements

for some time.

[Gutierrez-Romine] The buildings and the forest

have almost blended together.

The trees are coming out

of the rooftops of this structure.

It's totally bare, and neglected,

with rubble scattered everywhere inside.

If Stephen King were here, he would write

a scary book about this place.

[Selwood] There are very few clues that reveal

[Selwood] There are very few clues that reveal

the original purpose of this facility.

[narrator] Built to alleviate suffering,

these walls instead became home

to personal and political tragedy.

[Gutierrez-Romine] It's the story of love and murder

in a monumental national crisis.

[narrator] Marinko Tot is an investigative journalist

who spent four years uncovering the truth

of what went on here.

Everybody in Zagreb knows

there is a big, abandoned building

there is a big, abandoned building

up on the mountain,

but only a few know the real story.

[Selwood] If it wasn't for a truly great love story,

it may never have been built.

[narrator] This romantic tale began with the man

who helped establish the facility.

The area in which we are, right now,

was an office of the first principal,

Milivoj Dezman.

Dezman had a bit of a crush on his childhood sweetheart.

Lady Sram was a star in Croatian theatre.

She was one of the most beautiful actresses

of her age,

and Dr. Dezman fell in love with her.

Unfortunately for Dezman, Lady Sram would go on

to marry another man, and have children with him.

[narrator] He didn't give up hope

that one day he would be with the woman of his dreams.

that one day he would be with the woman of his dreams.

[Nusbacher] Then, Lady Sram's husband

leaves her, and this single mother

and her child need to be looked after.

[narrator] Dezman stepped in, and invited her into his home,

but soon, they would be together

even more permanently,

here at the Brestovac Sanatorium.

[Selwood] In the early 20th century,

a cure for tuberculosis hadn't been found,

and the world was still reliant on sanatoriums

and the world was still reliant on sanatoriums

to treat patients of tuberculosis.

[Marinko Tot] Down in the city,

there was a lot of industry,

a lot of smoke, a lot of coal facilities around,

so the place was erected on the mountain,

because of the easy access to nature,

and the fresh air for the patients.

This institution is the leading edge

of medical science, right here in Brestovac.

[narrator] But the pioneering sanatorium

may never have been built

were it not for a tragic turn of events.

Before construction began in 1909,

Lady Sram had been diagnosed with tuberculosis.

And Dr. Dezman is there for her.

[narrator] In desperation, he did everything possible

to treat Lady Sram.

[Tot] He really started to lobby

[Tot] He really started to lobby

and initiate the panel of discussion.

He was involved in the fundraising,

and all the permits needed to erect this facility

as soon as possible.

She was one of the first patients

at Brestovac.

This room, where Lady Sram spent her time,

is directly above the room of Dr. Dezman.

The room is beautiful,

and she spent a lot of time here.

The windows were large. She could see the forest.

The windows were large. She could see the forest.

She could see the city and the valley.

She could feel the fresh air,

the nature, and everything surrounding her.

[narrator] Despite Dezman's love and determination,

In 1913, her condition took a turn for the worse.

In her final days,

Dr. Dezman brought Lady Sram to his private office,

where she died in his arms.

[narrator] After her death,

Brestovac entered an era of expansion.

[Selwood] There's a multistory building,

and then, some ruins,

and they're connected by this sort of epic corridor.

[Tot] We believe that

the VIPs were housed in the main building,

and there was a degree of separation between classes,

and there was a degree of separation between classes,

and that walkway basically was the bridge

between different classes of people.

[Nusbacher] Tuberculosis struck the high and the low,

and as a result, a public facility like this

brought all elements of society together.

[narrator] These new buildings included large wards

where poor patients could be cared for

by fewer nursing staff.

by fewer nursing staff.

The sanatorium was beginning to reflect

the increasingly fractured world outside its walls.

[Nusbacher] Because there was a lot of division in society,

this facility becomes

its own intense little version of the Balkans.

[narrator] These rifts would see

the once-quiet hospital ensnared in deadly conspiracy.

the once-quiet hospital ensnared in deadly conspiracy.

It's hard to believe that such a brutal plot

would have been conceived right here.

[narrator] In 1921,

at Brestovac Sanatorium in Croatia,

a savage plot is underway.

This was the Brestovac library.

One of the patients here

who was sitting on the table,

and reading, was Alija Alijagic.

He was a member of the Communist Party.

He was a member of the Communist Party.

[Nusbacher] Bomb-throwing anarchists, communists, partisans.

This part of the world was focused on wild politics.

[narrator] For Alijagic,

only the wildest political statement would suffice.

Along with his companions, he planned an assassination

of the Minister of Interior.

[narrator] He followed the Minister to a park.

There, he shot and killed him in cold blood.

Alijagic and his comrades were quickly rounded up,

and he was sentenced to death.

After that assassination, the Communist Party was banned

and went underground,

where it stayed for the next 20 years.

[narrator] During the Second World War,

these underground forces would return to Brestovac,

these underground forces would return to Brestovac,

facing off against invaders and collaborators.

The Nazis controlled Croatia, in part, through the Ustasha,

the Croatian nationalist fascist militia.

Brestovac was changed to become a hospital

for the wounded Nazi and Ustasha soldiers.

[narrator] By 1945, the communist forces

had fought their way back to the sanatorium.

They had vengeance on their minds.

[Nusbacher] When the communist partisans

come to these people,

who have been abusing them horribly for years,

the result is

an orgy of violence.

They took these wounded soldiers

out of the hospital, and into the forest,

out of the hospital, and into the forest,

and executed them.

[Tot] Their remains are somewhere in the forests

around the facility, still undiscovered today.

[Selwood] Rumors that the ghosts

of these executed soldiers still walk the corridors,

endow it with a still very eerie legacy.

[narrator] Since its abandonment in 1968,

[narrator] Since its abandonment in 1968,

the sanatorium was forgotten,

and left to decay,

but Marinko hopes

that it might one day help the people of Zagreb again.

[Tot] It was inspired by emotion

and by, really, community work in order to erect it,

and people's pride in the city.

I'm hoping it will once more be the pride of the city.

[narrator] In the country of Georgia

is an ancient refuge,

inside a mountain.

Georgia's physical geography is breathtaking,

and this part is no exception.

[Gutierrez-Romine] The one thing that

catches your eye immediately is

catches your eye immediately is

this almost vertical rock formation

that rises dramatically from the flat floodplain.

[narrator] It appears to have suffered

a cataclysmic event.

[Gutierrez-Romine] The landscape here

used to look quite different.

[Nehemiah Mabry] It's as if

the mountain had been blown up,

and we're getting to see right inside of it.

[narrator] Where once there was solid rock face,

now the hillside is honeycombed

with a warren of passageways and cells.

[Mabry] There are long tunnels,

and many areas hidden from view.

It feels like it was a very secretive and defensive place.

[narrator] But who built this subterranean sanctuary?

And why did they hide it from the world?

Guram Kipiani has spent many years

exploring the ancient city of Vardzia.

[translator] When I first saw Vardzia,

I was probably a year nine or 10 school pupil.

I couldn't even be sure where I was,

or what I was looking at,

but later on,

I gradually got a better vision of it.

I gradually got a better vision of it.

I don't know of any other feudalistic state in the world

which could make such a magnificent complex

during the reign of only one or two kings.

[narrator] The oldest settlements here

date back thousands of years.

Many generations, going back to the Bronze Age,

have cut and honed the rock that is here.

have cut and honed the rock that is here.

The geology is perfect for it.

[narrator] But the majority of the settlements visible today

began life in the 12th century.

They got their name when a young girl called Tamar

was playing here with her uncle.

[Selwood] Young Tamar got lost in the caves,

and when called for, replied,

"I'm here, Uncle,"

which in Georgian has the sounds "var" and "dzia,"

which in Georgian has the sounds "var" and "dzia,"

thus giving the place its name,

Vardzia.

[narrator] Amongst the ruins of Vardzia

is evidence that Tamar wasn't just any girl.

[translator] These wall paintings are very noteworthy,

especially the image of Giorgi III

and his daughter, Tamar the King.

[narrator] Described as a king

as a medieval mark of respect,

as a medieval mark of respect,

when she inherited the throne and the half-built Vardzia

from her father in 1184,

she was beset with enemies on all sides,

and the now-ruined complex

suggested disaster was heading her way.

[narrator] In the 12th century,

Queen Tamar of Georgia was facing

an existential threat to her kingdom.

She turned to an area known as Vardzia for protection.

The Mongols were trying

to expand their territory westward.

This part of Georgia was very much in their sights.

This part of Georgia was very much in their sights.

[Selwood] It's no surprise

the Georgians here wanted to hide.

The Mongols were famed for their ruthlessness.

[narrator] Faced with a seemingly imminent invasion,

the queen ordered a rapid expansion

of the cave network.

[Selwood] The only way to enter the city was through

a secret tunnel, which started

at the nearby river.

[narrator] Capable of housing

tens of thousands of residents,

along with its thriving monastic community,

it was all concealed within the mountain.

[Selwood] The underground fortress originally had 6,000 rooms.

This really was a full-on city.

There were meeting rooms, reception chambers,

a throne room, a bakery, a forge, and a church

a throne room, a bakery, a forge, and a church

all housed in this complex.

It took about 50 years to construct,

but when you consider that this was all done by hand,

that doesn't seem that long.

[narrator] Its residents had everything they needed

to remain self-sufficient for a long time.

[translator] This is the water supply

and distribution system.

It's a waterway which runs from upper Vardzia.

It's a waterway which runs from upper Vardzia.

This hole in the ground

is thought to be a water reservoir.

Drinking water would have been stored here.

[narrator] But before the Mongol armies

could put Vardzia's defenses to the test,

Queen Tamar had to face off against a different threat.

The Battle of Basian is one of the most important battles

The Battle of Basian is one of the most important battles

in Georgian history.

[narrator] Confronted by an overwhelming force

of Seljuk Turks,

it fell to the queen to inspire her nervous troops.

Queen Tamar is said to have addressed her army

here at Vardzia,

walking barefoot down to the valley floor,

where her troops were amassed.

The Georgians successfully fought off the Seljuk Turks,

and confirmed their status

as the absolute power in the Caucasus.

as the absolute power in the Caucasus.

[narrator] When Tamar died in 1213,

she left her nation stronger than ever,

and Vardzia continued life

as a cultural and religious center...

This was the zenith of the kingdom of Georgia.

[narrator] ...but military prowess

could not protect the underground city

from what was coming.

1283 was a tragic year for Vardzia.

A huge earthquake struck,

destroying vast parts of the cave city.

The thing about the earthquake

is that it totally ruined the city's disguise.

[Selwood] The mountain face slid off

with the extreme tremors, exposing the caves within.

[narrator] No longer hidden from the world,

Vardzia's importance slowly diminished.

Out of the rubble of the devastated city,

one aspect of life returned.

After the earthquake,

a small religious community persisted.

[narrator] They faced attacks and persecution

in the now-exposed caves,

but a small number of their descendants

have managed to continue their legacy today.

have managed to continue their legacy today.

[Gutierrez-Romine] The remaining monks

still live like their brethren from centuries past.

They collect their drinking and bathing water

from the nearby ancient underground spring.

[Mabry] But mainly, it's tourists that you'll see

wandering these tunnels and carved passageways.