Khornabuji Fortress (Region of Kakheti )
Khornabuji Fortress (Georg. ხორნაბუჯის ციხე), also sometimes called Queen Tamara’s Fortress, is an ancient fortress in the eastern part of Georgia. The name Khornabuji is translated from Persian as a sun mountain. The destroyed walls of the fortress rise on the majestic Tsiv-Gombori ridge. It was probably erected initially at the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. At that time, it served as the only fortification controlling the valleys of the Iori and Alazani rivers. The first surviving written evidence of it dates back to the period of the reign of the king of Iberia Vakhtang I Gorgasali in the 5th century. At that time, Hornabuji was one of the largest settlements in the Kakheti region.
In the late 5th or early 6th century, Khornabuji was conquered by the Sassanids. It is likely that the surrounding city was destroyed, although something of the fortress itself remained, and over the next centuries the city reappeared on the plain south of the fortress cliff. During the 13th century, according to some sources, the fortress was restored by order of Queen Tamara. The city was destroyed by the Mongol invaders in 1264, after which no significant settlements existed at the castle walls.
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