Fortress · Khertvisi, Aspindza Municipality, Samtskhe-Javakheti
Khertvisi Fortress
ხერთვისის ციხე
A tenth-century citadel and ring of walls on a rocky cape where the Paravani meets the Mtkvari, on the valley road between Akhaltsikhe and Vardzia.
Where it is
41.4796, 43.2857
Why go
The fortress is well preserved and is reached by a footpath from Khertvisi village below. Its walls climb straight out of the rock, and within them are a small hall church and the remains of other buildings; a tunnel once carried water in from the north-west. Over the centuries it served both as a stronghold and as the residence of feudal lords, and a succession of Georgian and foreign owners renovated it. Most visitors stop here on the way to Vardzia, with the ruins of Tmogvi further up the same valley.
Near Khertvisi Fortress
Fortress
Tmogvi Fortress
The ruined walls of a medieval fortress-town on a steep height above the Mtkvari gorge downstream of Vardzia, which once guarded the route between the Javakheti plateau and the river valley.
10 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Vardzia
A cave monastery cut into the cliffs of Erusheti mountain above the left bank of the Mtkvari, laid out mainly in the twelfth century under Giorgi III and his daughter Queen Tamar.
11 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Sapara Monastery
A working monastery screened by forest and yellowish cliffs near the village of Ghrele outside Akhaltsikhe, where the domed thirteenth-century Church of St Saba stands beside a tenth-century Dormition church.
25 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Fortress
Atskuri Fortress
A cliff-top fortress over the Mtkvari at Atskuri village, long a defensive post for the Borjomi valley, with a narrow tunnel cut down to the riverbank so the garrison could reach water during sieges.
29 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ