Visit Akhaltsikhe, Our Guide To These Unique Sights

Off to visit Akhaltsikhe after spending two days full days in Gori. We have four days booked in to visit Akhaltsikhe, where we intend to visit these unique sights. Akhaltsikhe has a vast and impressive Fortress situated atop a hill. In addition, visit the Resort Town of Abastumani which is a short drive away. Here you can soak your weary bones in sulfur bath pools as the Russian nobles did so many years ago. If looking for something completely different, then visit the Cave Monastery of Vardzia. Known as the home of Queen Tamar. Furthermore, our post, a “Visit to Akhaltsikhe, Our Guide To These Unique Sights”, intended to inform you about what sights are in and around Akhaltsikhe, Georgia.

Arriving in town at the bus station, we caught a taxi to our apartment. Dropping off our bags and headed off to discover the Castle. It turned out that our booking was just below the Castle, a five-minute walk. The taxi driver we would use several times more during our stay here in town, and I’ll tell you more about that later.

Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Fortress History

First established in the 9th century, the Fortress (Castle) itself was built in the 12th century. Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Fortress had been captured or destroyed several times throughout its history. Firstly in 1393 by the Tamerlane army then again in 1486 by the Mongols. Akhaltsikhe’s strategic importance and convenient trading routes helped the town to revive.

In 1578 Akhaltsikhe was occupied by the army of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman rebuilt and fortified the Fortress, and Rabati came into being. In 1828 combined forces of the Russian and Georgian military could take back Akhaltsikhe Fortress from the Ottomans.

An extensive restoration project taken on in 2011 saw the buildings, walls, and many other details repaired. Reopened in 2012 to the public. Akhaltsikhe Fortress is divided into two levels, a lower portion with shops, cafes, restaurants, and a hotel. The upper part includes the Akhmediye mosque (18th century), an Orthodox church (19th century), Djakeli palace, and the new History Museum. The museum exhibition presents the ancient history of Southern Georgia. Stone items of the Neolithic Age, bronze axes found in these lands, items related to primitive society, and many other artifacts.

Visting Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Fortress

Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Fortress was where we headed when we settled into our new home—located just above where we were staying. Looking at the Fortress from afar, this place is vast. Entrance into the Fortress was 20 GEL for both, and we hired a guide, which was another 20 GEL. Admittance to the museum is 6 GEL you pay at the museum.

Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Fortress is an incredible, massive complex in excellent condition, after being renovated. We enjoyed this Fortress, and having a guide explain that explained the history associated with this place made it that much better. The weather cooperated and wasn’t too cold or windy. Lots of exciting structures and locations to take some fantastic pictures. Including atop a tower that gives you incredible views across the entire city. This Fortress is a must-visit. There is just so much to see, highly recommended by us.

Amaghleba Church (Queen Tamar)

Amaghleba Church is located in between streets at the beginning of Akhaltsikhe after crossing the bridge from old town. Constructed in 2009 – 2010 so it is not that old, dedicated to Queen (King) Tamar. The church is very beautiful both inside and out, so take a peek inside and look around.

The Object that got my attention was the statue of Queen Tamar in the front of the church sitting on her throne and holding a symbol of power in her hands. Tamaroba holiday is celebrated by locals on 14 May.

Tamaroba is one of the most important national holidays in Georgia. The main celebration takes place in Akhaltsikhe, where there is a monument in her honor. King Tamar’s 29-year reign (1184–1213), the first female ruler, was considered the most successful in Georgian history. Queen Tamar was given the title “king of kings”. She succeeded in neutralizing opposition and embarked on an energetic foreign policy. Backed by a powerful military force, King Tamar managed to consolidate the Georgian state.

Zaza Our Driver

Zaza was the taxi driver that picked us up from the bus station in town and delivered us to our stay in Akhaltsikhe. We used his taxi service a total of four times. Would highly recommend his services to anyone visiting Akhaltsikhe and looking to get out of town on some excursions. Even needing a ride transfer to another town his prices are reasonable. His driving ability leans toward slower and safer travel, which my wife was grateful for. ZAZA TAXI 995 551-51-11-53 or 995 593-67-27-73

The Once Resort Town, Abastumani

Abastumani is a small resort town about a half an hour drive from Akhaltsikhe. We used Zaza’s taxi to drive us and soon realized that there was not much to do there. This was due to the recent snow that has accumulated. With so much snow this made it so that we were unable to visit the Observatory. Visiting the Observatory was something that I had read about through a fellow blogger.

We did wander down the main street looking at older houses and the incredible fretwork associated with the exteriors of the buildings. It looks like most of the older houses are in some sort of disrepair. There are several that look amazing and shine with the craftsmanship of the wood and the new paint that makes everything stand out.

One thing that we were able to do was to visit one of the spas in town. In saying that the first one we checked in at was not open because of some kind of breakdown. On our second try, we had success, the cost for both Cindy and I was 20 GEL and we had the whole place to ourselves. We spent 40 minutes relaxing and enjoying the water and the time we had in the pool.

Khertvisi Fortress

Not far from the cave city of Vardzia on top of a mountain stands Khertvisi Fortress. You drive by this fortress on your way to Vardzia. We stopped at the side of the road to take pictures. We would stop and visit on our way back if time permitted, our first priority today was to visit the Monastery caves of Vardzia.

Khertvisi is one of the oldest fortresses in Georgia, dating back centuries. Even though the exact date of its construction date is unknown, there is proof of its standing on the Silk Road. The mountain, on which the fortress is standing, wonderfully combines history and the present. At the foot of the mountain, there stands a small rural village of locals, and hundreds of meters above them the impregnable walled fortress is still towering.

Vardzia Cave Monastery History

Giorgi III started construction of the fortress but his daughter Queen Tamar was the one who saw its completion. Queen Tamar changed the designation as a fortress into a massive, fortified monastery. The Cave Monastery was constructed between 1156-1203, it was blessed on the 15th of August, 1185, in the name of Assumption of Mary.

Vardzia cave Monastery complex, carved in a rock, 12th – 13th Century Georgian picturesque monument. Located in Javakheti, Aspindza region (60km from Akhaltsikhe), on the bank of the river Mtkvari, at 1300 meters above sea level. Vardzia Monastery when completed this underground fortress extended 13 levels and contained 6000 apartments, a throne room, and a large church with an external bell tower.

In 1283, only a century after its construction, a devastating earthquake literally ripped the place apart. The quake shattered the mountain slope and destroyed more than two-thirds of the city, exposing the hidden innards.

Despite the damage caused by the earthquake, the monastery continued until 1551 when it was raided and destroyed by the Shah of Iran. Sacked again in 1578, by the Turks, many monks were killed. Those who survived scattered in different directions and the monastery became uninhabited.

Visting Vardzia Cave Monastery From Akhaltsikhe

We hired Zaza to drive us out to the Monastery caves of Vardzia, picked up at 11:30, it is a beautiful sunny day with temperatures hovering around 0 C. Stopped several times along the way to take photos, Zaza was very accommodating in this regard and goes out of his way to find a location to photograph. We stopped at Khertvisi Fortress and Tsunda Church for some pics.

Before reaching the entrance to Vardzia caves we stopped at a pullout to take some pictures that show the sheer size of this incredible complex. It is amazing to see sights such as these bring into perspective what humans can do when the need arises. We arrived at Vardzia Cave Monastery at around 13:00 and the weather is perfect still lovely sunshine. The entrance fee is 15 GEL each, unfortunately, the bus going up the hill to the starting point is not running. Needless to say, this was quite the walk up the roadway to the starting point.

Cindy and I start our tour with no guide or audio even though I think audio was available, we were not offered. Vardzia is simply amazing, an experience that would be hard to find anywhere in this world of ours. We acted like little children exploring the tunnels, not knowing where we might come out. Oh to be young again!

At the church of Assumption of Mary, there is a tunnel to the left of the church which we highly recommend taking as to leads to a natural spring hidden deep within the tunnels. Where you’ll find a pool seemingly filled with water pouring — or crying — from the rocks above it. Queen Tamar’s tears are said to weep from these cave walls filling the pool.

Additionally, when touring the caves you start at one point (start) and exit in a completely different location, the place is set up that all traffic goes in one direction toward the exit with no backtracking allowed. Making your way around this cave complex is safe as there are handrails everywhere, staircases when needed and hard surfaces to walk on, being winter there was a little ice, not much you can do about that except to be careful. Little kids you should keep an eye on as a fall from anywhere would be hazardous.

We can’t say enough good about this visit, it was an awesome experience, we have been to Uplistsikhe near Gori, but this place is different. We spent about 3 hours here. Cindy and I highly recommend visiting Vardzia Cave Monastery it’s extraordinary!

Our Akhaltsikhe Accommodation ART-Rabat

ART-Rabat was located just below Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Fortress in the old town area of the city. Easy walking distance to the Fortress and for that matter easy walking distance to anywhere. Close distance to some very good restaurants, Restaurant Mimino just down the walk a couple of hundred meters. The host was very good and assisted us several times with requests.

Getting to Akhaltsikhe From Gori

From Gori, we took the Mtskheta (local minivans) to get to Akhaltsikhe at a cost of 7 GEL each. The trip took two hours in a very cold van, oh the hardships of travel. In addition, when visiting the outlying towns English is not widely spoken or understood. Google maps or Google translate can be your friend. We arrive at the bus station in Akhaltsikhe no worse for wear.

Leaving Akhaltsikhe To Borjomi

When it was time to leave Akhalsikhe we used Zaza one last time to take us to Borjomi. We would spend one night in Borjomi before heading onto Kutaisi for a stay on one week. On our way to Borjomi, Zaza took us to one more beautiful Monastery called the Green Monastery dating back to the 12th century. I must admit that the door-to-door service was a nice change.

Covid-19 Protocols

Here are some of the Covid-19 protocols that we have run across in our stay in Akhaltsikhe and, for that matter, in the rest of Georgia as well. Consequently, you may need to prove that you have been double vaccinated. Proof of vaccine could be requested when entering stores, restaurants, Museums, and such. Georgia uses a green passport system, being a tourist this passport is hard to activate using the app. To summarize as long as you can prove that you are double vaccinated you should have no problems. We haven’t and we have been in Georgia for 2 months at this point.

The requirement is to wear masks when entering any building, purchasing tickets at a wicket, entering restaurants, and in crowded locations such as riding buses. Covid-19 protocols are not followed strictly enforced compared to the larger cities.

Our Final Thoughts “Visit Akhaltsikhe, Our Guide To These Unique Sights”

• We very much enjoyed our visit to Akhaltsikhe. We spent four nights here and felt that was a good amount of time to see the sites in and around Akhaltsikhe. Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Fortress is to date the best fortress we have seen, because of the restorations it is complete and beautiful site to visit. We are very fortunate to have found a good driver in Zaza as this gave us the oppurtuinity to get out of town and explore some of the out lying areas around Akhaltsikhe. Highly recommend visiting Akhaltsikhe, three to four nights would be suffient amount of time to spend here.

Our Positives

• People are so friendly and welcoming
• Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Fortress was amazing
• Enjoyed walking around town and trying many of the returaunts located in the downtown area.
• Our trip to Vardzia Cave Monastery was an everything one could have hoped for, the caves themseves were stunning, our weather for the day was sunny and tempuratures were just hovering around zero C, Perfect day and fantastic memories.

Our Negatives

• Not being able to see this area in a different season rather than winter, you never know we might make it back some day

Would have, Could have, Should have

• I do not think that there is anything we would change about our trip to Akhaltsikhe. Maybe time of year, but we are limited what we can do about that. In saying that when visiting the fortress or the caves we pretty much had the place to ourselves. This was great for pictures, and just better overall experience.

Next Stop

We are off to spend a night in Borjomi, then off to Kutaisi. In Kutaisi, we have a week to sit back and enjoy the city. We hope to get our booster shots here as the world seems to be heading in that direction. Without a booster, it’s getting harder to travel. Where and when will this end?

Other Travel Posts About Our Stays In Georgia

Tbilisi the capital of Georgia the Country we started our Georgian adventures here. We fell in love with the city and ended up staying six weeks here. A large post with lots of good information.

Signagi (also spelled Sighnaghi) is a beautiful town in the Georgian wine region of Kakheti. We decided to visit this much talked about town after being in Tbilisi for just two weeks. Signagi is known as “the City of Love” and is located a two-hour Marshrutka (van) ride from Tbilisi.

Gori is the first town we visited after leaving Tbilisi in our travels toward Batumi and onward to Turkey have a read and hope you enjoy it.

Why visit Kutaisi, What Makes Kutaisi Interesting you can find many historical icons from Monasteries to Fortresses. Extraordinary underground caves such as Prometheus Cave and Sataplia where you can see dinosaur footprints and explore Karst cave. Good Georgian food is plenty, plus you can visit the fascinating Green Baazar.

Batumi is a seaside Georgian City located on the black sea just 12 kilometers north of the Turkish Georgian border. Cindy and I are happy to be here, the last stop of our Georgian travels, and we are excited to Experience Batumi and Discover What Makes It Special. We have set aside two weeks to explore Batumi.

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Recommended Travel Essential

Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic, so we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable with our lifestyle. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.

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Accommodation Options While Traveling The World

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