Kldekari Fortress
Ruined walls on the Trialeti ridge, once the centre of the most powerful feudal principality in Georgia.
- Time needed
- 6 h
- From Tbilisi
- 85 km · 2:15
- Road
- 4x4 only
- Car needed
- Off-road 4x4
- Season
- June–September
- Entry
- free
Kldekari is more history than sight. What is left of the fortress sits on a rocky crest at the head of the Tedzami valley, on the Trialeti ridge, and getting there means walking or driving a serious off-road vehicle. Anyone expecting intact walls will be disappointed; anyone interested in medieval Georgian politics will not forgive themselves for skipping it.
The castle was built in 876 by Liparit Baghvashi. His descendants turned it into the Duchy of Kldekari, which through the 10th and 11th centuries operated as an effectively independent power. The Baghvashis made and unmade kings, negotiated separately with Byzantium, and at moments held more real strength than the crown itself. That is precisely why David the Builder abolished the duchy in 1103-1104 and exiled the family from the country. After that the fortress lost its purpose.
Today the crest holds sections of wall, the lower part of a tower and traces of a cistern, all half buried in grass and scrub. The name — from the Georgian words for cliff and gate — describes the place exactly: a gateway cut through rock where the route crossed from Shida Kartli into Trialeti.
The view repays the climb. North lie the Mtkvari plain and the Greater Caucasus; south, the Trialeti plateau rolls away in bare ridges. From June to September the alpine meadows are in flower. After October the weather turns quickly and snow arrives early.
Gallery
Practical advice
This is a full day out, not a roadside stop. From Rkoni the climb takes roughly three hours each way, and the path is not waymarked, so a GPS track or a local guide is essential. Carry water; springs higher up are not reliable. Weather on the ridge changes fast, and a windproof layer plus something warm is needed even in July. Mobile coverage is patchy. Going up alone is not advisable.
How to get there from Tbilisi
Take the E60 from Tbilisi to Igoeti, then head south through Kaspi and Chachubeti and along the Tedzami gorge to Rkoni — 75 km, of which 55 are asphalt and the rest gravel with river fords. Above Rkoni only a high-clearance four-wheel drive continues, and only in dry conditions; most people leave the car at Rkoni and walk. Eighty-five kilometres in total and about two and a half hours of driving on a good day. Refuel in Kaspi.
Click a marker for details. Coloured lines are ready-made road trips.
Nearby places
MonasteryRkoni Monastery and Tamar's Bridge
A medieval monastery at the head of the Tedzami gorge, with a single-arch stone bridge among the best preserved in Georgia.
MonasteryErtatsminda Cathedral
A 13th-century domed church south of Kaspi, richly carved outside and tied by tradition to the grave of Giorgi Saakadze.
MonasteryManglisi Cathedral
One of the oldest Christian sites in Georgia, standing in pine forest at 1,200 metres in the summer resort of Manglisi.
Booking and enquiries
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