RKONI FORTRESS

Rkoni fortress

Rkoni Fortress (Region of Shida Kartli )

Rkoni fortress (Georg. რკონის ციხე)  includes  fence,  church,  reconnaissance tower and  palace. The fortress was built on a very difficult terrain, the western part stands on a relatively flat area, the eastern part – on a steep slope. The interior is not aligned. Fence, simple, irregular round shape (height 5 m) with one door facing northwest. The walls are reinforced with buttresses. Inside there is a two-story fence. The battle path was made of wood. The lower part of the fence is deaf, and on the upper tier there are holes for firing a gun.

The reconnaissance tower stands at the top of the castle, on top of the mountain. In plan it approaches a square. Today there are three floors left. The third floor is damaged. In the courtyard of the castle there is a three-storey palace, which has been preserved in the form of ruins. The church of the Rkoni complex belongs to an earlier period than the other buildings and dates back to the 13th century. In the XII-XIII centuries. Here lay a significant trade and military-strategic route that connected Shida Kartli with Javakheti and Trialeti, and then, through Armenia, with the Middle East. The Rkoni Fortress is included in the list of cultural monuments of national importance in Georgia.

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