Rabati Castle (Akhaltsikhe)

Rabati is the historic core of Akhaltsikhe: a walled town on a hill that served for centuries as the seat of the Jaqeli princes and later as the centre of Ottoman administration in the region. The name comes from an Arabic word for a fortified quarter.

The complex was extensively rebuilt in 2011-2012, and that restoration is still argued about. Some of what you walk past is genuinely old, some is modern reconstruction in pale stone with new gardens and terraces. Either way, Rabati remains a rare place in Georgia where the religious layering of Meskheti sits in one enclosure — a mosque with its madrasa, an Orthodox church, a synagogue building and part of the princely palace.

The site splits into two zones:

• the lower free zone — lanes, cafes, souvenir shops, tourist information
• the upper ticketed zone — the citadel, the mosque, the history museum and access to the ramparts

From the upper walls you see the whole town and the ridges of Meskheti. The museum inside covers regional archaeology and the Jaqeli period, and is worth the extra twenty minutes.