Samshvilde

Samshvilde looks far less impressive on a map than it does on the ground. The city stood on a triangular promontory cut on both sides by deep gorges, those of the Khrami and the Chivchavi. The rock drops almost vertically on either flank, and the only approach is a narrow neck of land. It is a natural fortress that needed walls in one place only.

The site was inhabited from antiquity, and Georgian chronicles list it among the oldest cities of Kartli. In the 11th century Samshvilde became the capital of the Armenian Kiurikian kingdom; in 1110 David the Builder took it, his first major success on the road to unifying the country. Timur later destroyed it, and the city emptied out over the following centuries.

Scattered across the promontory today are the ruins of Samshvilde Sioni, a domed cathedral of 759-777 whose wall inscription names its builders; sections of city wall and a gate; rock-cut chambers and tombs; and the remains of a bathhouse. A University of Georgia expedition has been excavating since the late 2010s and a new section opens most seasons.

Walking out to the far tip and back is around two kilometres. The view down into the Khrami canyon is genuinely vertiginous, and there is no railing anywhere. In spring the plateau is full of flowers; in summer the sun is merciless, since there is almost no tree cover.