Archaeological site · Avranlo, Tsalka Municipality, Kvemo Kartli
Avranlo Fortress
ავრანლოს ციკლოპური ციხე · Avranlo Megalithic Fortress
A cyclopean fortification of huge dry-laid stones on the Tsalka plateau, rising in three tiers above the Ktsia river beside the village of Avranlo and dated to the first millennium BC.
Where it is
41.6625, 43.8841
Why go
What survives is walling rather than buildings. Walls two to two and a half metres thick climb from the foot of the hill, across its slopes, to the summit, and the upper enclosure has been broken up inside in a way archaeologists have not explained; no trace of the ancillary structures such a stronghold would need has been found. A small medieval church stands at the fortress, and excavation nearby shows a settlement that lasted into the 2nd century. This is a site for travellers curious about Georgia's megalithic builders, and it pairs with the canyons around Tsalka.
Near Avranlo Fortress
Bridge
Diamond Bridge (Tsalka Canyon)
A 240-metre glass suspension footbridge across Tsalka (Dashbashi) Canyon in Tsalka Municipality, with the diamond-shaped Diamond 360 café-bar at its centre.
21 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Lake
Tabatskuri Lake
A high lake at 2,000 metres in Samtskhe-Javakheti holding some 221 million cubic metres of water, with Tabatskuri village built out on a small peninsula along its shore.
22 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Canyon
Dashbashi (Tsalka) Canyon
An eight-kilometre gorge of the Ktsia–Khrami river through volcanic rock beside Dashbashi village in Tsalka Municipality, protected as a natural monument, with waterfalls running down its walls.
23 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Shaori Fortress
A megalithic stronghold of the second millennium BCE on the summit of Mount Shaori, 2,752 metres up north-west of Paravani Lake, built of large basalt blocks laid without mortar.
23 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
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