Saro Megaliths

At Saro you touch walls roughly as old as the Egyptian pyramids. Above the village, on the rim of the Mtkvari canyon, lie the ruins of a megalithic fortress — a so-called "cyclopean" structure dated to the 2nd-1st millennium BCE. Boulders up to 2.5 metres across are stacked in dry masonry, with no mortar of any kind — and they have stood for some three thousand years.

The complex originally consisted of three separate defensive structures; today wall remnants 2.5-3 metres high survive. Excavations have turned up early and late Bronze Age artefacts and medieval pottery — the site has hardly ever been uninhabited across the millennia.

Why the climb is worth it:

• The cyclopean walls — the most accessible showcase of Javakheti's megalithic culture (unlike Abuli, you do not need a 4x4)
• Dizzying views over the Mtkvari canyon from the fortress edge
• The village of Saro itself, all old stone houses and meadows

Tourists are still rare here: chances are good you will have the monument to yourself. The best light comes in the evening, when the canyon fills with shadow.