Ananuri Fortress, Georgia

Hello today, folks!

This post is about Ananuri Fortress, or Castle. I shared a couple of photos from there, and today I gonna tell you a longer story.

It is one of the famous landmarks of the country of Georgia, because it in about 60-70 km from Tbilisi. It is fun, but different sources mention numbers from 50 to 70 (no idea how is it possible). They all agree about one thing - it is in 12 km from the village Ananuri.

Ananuri Fortress is proposed to the UNESCO list as the best preserved landmark of that era.

It is constructed on the riverbank of of Aragvi River, in fact at the point it flows into Zhinvali water reservoir. From the other side of the fortress runs Georgian Military Road.

Nobody knows when exactly it was constructed. At the beginning, the first tower was built, and then the fortress erose around it. The earliest information about it is dated by 1720.

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In ancient times, the fortress was main outpost, designed to defend the road, which is now partially flooded by the river. The part of it is still over the waters. In fact, the level of the river is much lower nowadays than it was long ago.

Then, this place was a confluence of 2 rivers, and the fortress is situated in a ravine. No army could pass by unnoticed and immediately attacked by the defenders of the fortress, trapped in the natural gates.

In the XVI - early XIX centuries Ananuri was the main stronghold on the way from the Darial Gorge to Dusheti and from Russia to Georgia.

Walls of the castle are good preserved. There are 3 churches within them and 2 big towers. But this is the upper part of the whole construction. In the past, the fortress occupied a larger area.

The fortress was never taken by storm. But in the 18th century, internecine war came to dramatic event. After a complete and unsuccessful siege, the attacking troops destroyed the aqueduct, and the inhabitants of the fortress were left without water. They themselves opened the gate for a promise to save their lives. But they were deceived, and died.

!steemitworldmap 42.164374 lat 44.702854 long Ananuri Fortress d3scr

Unless stated otherwise all photos used in my posts are taken and owned by myself, if you wish to use any of my images please contact me.

I hope you enjoyed it!

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