There are over 100 castles and forts in Georgia, which were constructed between the years 800 and 1700 by various provincial kings. The castles and forts have long been abandoned, but most are still standing, and some are preserved by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. The earliest castle in Georgia was the

Ananuri Ananuri () is a castle complex on the Aragvi River in Dusheti Municipality Georgia, about from Tbilisi. History Ananuri was a castle and seat of the '' eristavis'' ( Dukes) of Aragvi, a feudal dynasty which ruled the area from the 13th century ...

castle, which was built in the period from 1200–1249. The Ananuri castle consisted of two castles with a big curtain wall surrounding it. It was the seat of the

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

s of the

Duchy of Aragvi The Duchy of Aragvi ( ka, არაგვის საერისთავო) was an important fiefdom in medieval and early modern Georgia, strategically located in the upper Aragvi valley, in the foothills of the eastern Greater Caucasus cres ...

, which was one of multiple feudal dynasties during the period. The last castle to be built in Georgia was the Rabati Castle, which was built between 1250 and 1299. The original town was built from 700–800, with the castle being built in the 1260s. From the 1260s to the 1340s the castle and the surrounding town was the capital city of the province of

Samtskhe-Saatabago The Samtskhe-Saatabago or Samtskhe Atabegate ( ka, სამცხე-საათაბაგო), also called the Principality of Samtskhe (სამცხის სამთავრო), was a Georgian feudal principality in Zemo Kartli, ru ...

, which was ruled by the

House of Jaqeli The House of Jaqeli ( ka, ჯაყელი) was a Georgian princely ('' mtavari'') family and a ruling dynasty of the Principality of Samtskhe, an offshoot of the House of Chorchaneli. History "Jaqeli", literally meaning "of/from Jaqi", was ...

.Noble & Kohn & Systermans, pp. 115–118 The forts of Georgia lie in varying states of ruin. The oldest was built in the 9th century, while some were built as late as the 17th century. While many still stand, most have been heavily damaged by various causes.

Citadel Tbilisi

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

Castles

Forts and fortresses

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Anonymous (1223). ''History of the Five Reigns'' *Noble, John; Kohn, Michael; Systermans, Daniel. (2008). ''Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan''. London, UK: Lonely Planet. *Rosen, Roger (1999). ''Georgia: A Sovereign Country of the Caucasus.'' Hong Kong: Odyssey Publications. *

Web sources

* {{cite web, url=http://dzeglebi.com/view.php?id=46 , title=Atskuri , publisher=Historical Monuments of Georgia , date=2012 , accessdate=June 18, 2015 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619055237/http://dzeglebi.com/view.php?id=46 , archivedate=June 19, 2015 Castles and forts in Georgia (country)

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...