Sighnaghi

Sighnaghi stands on a ridge some four hundred metres above the floor of the Alazani Valley, and that position is the whole point of the place. From any eastern edge of town the ground drops away and a flat green plain runs out to the wall of the Greater Caucasus — on a clear day the snow line is sharp enough to trace with a finger. The town itself is tiny, well under two thousand residents, and was rebuilt in the mid-2000s with red-tiled roofs, carved wooden balconies and cobbled lanes. Some travellers find the restoration a little too tidy; most simply enjoy it.

The serious monument here is the fortress wall. King Erekle II had it built in the 1770s as a refuge for the surrounding villages during raids from the north-east. Roughly four kilometres of curtain wall survive along with twenty-three towers, which makes it one of the most complete defensive circuits in Georgia. Two sections are open: stairways lead up onto the rampart, and the tower walks give a far better panorama than street level does.

On the main square, the Sighnaghi Museum holds regional archaeology downstairs and a room of Niko Pirosmani canvases upstairs — the painter was born nearby at Mirzaani. Around the square are wine bars and family cellars pouring qvevri wine by the glass, plus the small marriage house that earned the town its "city of love" nickname.