Petra Fortress (Region of Adjara)
Petra Fortress (Georgian: პეტრას ციხე). Historical and archaeological complex, which includes a citadel and ancient settlements. The territory of the historical region of Georgia – Lazeti (Georgian: ლაზეთი), which had a unique military-strategic and trade-economic location, was settled by ancient Kartvelian (Georgian) tribes – Lazi. Petra Fortress was founded in the 6th century by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. The importance of Petra was due to its strategic location at the intersection of trade routes connecting the Eastern Black Sea region with the central regions of Georgia, Byzantium and Persia. Before the construction of the large fortress city, there was a small fortress here built by the local population, but traces of the buildings are no longer visible.
The unique location of the fortress on the top of a steep cliff made it virtually invulnerable from the sea, and from the land it was protected by powerful stone walls and natural rock relief. By the medieval period, the Petra fortress had become so difficult to access that it was called the “Kadjeti Fortress” (enchanted fortress). Despite such a favorable territorial location, the fortress changed hands more than once. In the Byzantine era, the fortress played an important role in the political life of Western Georgia. Some historians equated the role of this fortress city with the role of the capital of Georgia. Today, the architectural museum-reserve Petra-Tsikhe occupies an area of about 2 hectares. On the territory of the fortress you have found ancient fortifications, the remains of an ancient basilica of the 5th-6th centuries, burial grounds and the remains of residential buildings of the ancient period.
Tsikhisdziri village (Georgian: სოფელი ციხისძირი), Municipality of Kobuleti (Georgian: ქობულეთის მუნიციპალიტეტი)
