Tmogvi Fortress (Region of Samtskhe-Javakheti)
Tmogvi Fortress (Georgian: თმოგვის ციხე) – A remarkable monument of the cultural heritage of Georgia, with its monumental walls and supports, reminds everyone of the greatness of the Georgian spirit, imprinted in its architecture. For the construction of the Tmogvi Fortress, a high rocky mountain was chosen, surrounded by natural barriers, which turned it into an impregnable fortress. For centuries, the fortress was an important political center of the region and controlled the road leading to Georgia from Western Asia, through the Kura gorge. To the east of the fortress, along the river, you can see the remains of a large settlement (city). Visual observation shows that the city was directly adjacent to the fortress. It seems that the church of St. Marine stood on the territory of the city. The bridge support has been preserved on the Kura. The remains of the settlement are an integral part of the castle and an important archaeological monument.
The fortress is located on a rocky ledge of the Erusheti plateau (Georgian: ერუშეთის ქედი), on a hard-to-reach, almost vertical cliff rising to a height of 150 meters above the narrow canyon of the Kura River (Georgian: მტკვარი), which washes its foot on both sides. On the other two sides there are deep, hard-to-reach gorges. All more or less easily passable paths are blocked by walls, in which only narrow passages are left. The western part of the castle, built on the slope of a cliff in three steps, with walls and supports, is comparatively better preserved. To the southeast, the wall was surrounded by a cave that connected to the upper citadel and to the Kura River below, through a secret tunnel cut into the rock. Beyond the castle walls, in a gorge to the west, the Church of St. Ephraim is carved out of the rock massif, adorned with a kankel carved into the rock itself. The ruins of the second domed church contain fragments of 13th-century wall paintings.
Tmogvi village (Georgian: სოფელი თმოგვი), Aspindza Municipality (Georgian: ასპინძის მუნიციპალიტეტი)