Birtvisi is a ruined medieval fortress in Kvemo Kartli

Kvemo Kartli

Kvemo Kartli is a historic province and current administrative region in southeastern Georgia. The city of Rustavi is a regional capital. The population is mixed between Azeris and Georgians .The current governor is Davit Kirkitadze.- External links :* *...

, Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

, nested within limestone cliffs in the Algeti river

Algeti River

The Algeti is a 108 km-long river in Kvemo Kartli, Georgia, spanning the Municipalities of Tetritsq'aro and Marneuli. Originating at Mount Kldekari, it flows into the deep rocky valley and then a plain before joining the Mtkvari River as its right tributary. Colorful landscapes of the Algeti...

 gorge. It is now within the boundaries of the Tetri-Tsqaro municipality

Tetri Tsqaro District

Tetri Tsqaro is a district of Georgia, in the region of Kvemo Kartli. Its main town is Tetri Tsqaro.Population: 25,354 Area: 1,175 km²- External links :* , Statoids.com...

, adjacent to the Algeti National Park

Algeti National Park

The Algeti National Park is a protected area in Georgia, in the southeast of the country. It lies in the region of Kvemo Kartli, within the Municipality of Tetritsqaro, some 60 km southwest of the nation’s capital, Tbilisi....

, south-west of the nation's capital Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

.

Birtvisi is essentially a natural rocky fortress of 1 km², secured by walls and towers, the most prominent of which – known as Sheupovari ("Obstinate") – tops the tallest rock in the area. Various accessory structures, an aqueduct included, have also survived.

In written sources, Birtvisi is first mentioned as a possession of the Arab amir of Tiflis of which he was divested by the Georgian nobles Liparit, Duke of Kldekari

Liparit IV, Duke of Kldekari

Liparit IV, sometimes known as Liparit III , was an 11th-century Georgian general and political figure who was at times the most valuable support of King Bagrat IV of Georgia and his most dangerous rival...

 and Ivane Abazasdze

Ivane Abazasdze

Ivane Abazasdze was a 11th-century Georgian feudal lord who functioned as an eristavi of Kartli under King Bagrat IV of Georgia . During the king’s minority, he assumed an important place in the country’s aristocratic regency government...

 in 1038. In medieval Georgia, Birtvisi entertained a reputation of an impregnable stronghold whose master could control the entire strategic Algeti gorge. The Turco-Mongol

Turco-Mongol

Turko-Mongol is a modern designation for various nomads who were subjects of the Mongol Empire. Being progressively Turkicized in terms of language and identity following the Mongol conquests, they derived their ethnic and cultural origins from steppes of Central Asia...

 amir Timur

Timur

Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...

 notably reduced the fortress during one of his invasions of Georgia

Timur's invasions of Georgia

Georgia, a Christian kingdom in the Caucasus, was subjected, between 1386 and 1404, to several disastrous invasions by the Islamic armies of Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur, whose vast empire stretched, at its greatest extent, from Central Asia into Anatolia.These conflicts were intimately linked with...

 in 1403. After the partition of the Kingdom of Georgia

Kingdom of Georgia

The Kingdom of Georgia was a medieval monarchy established in AD 978 by Bagrat III.It flourished during the 11th and 12th centuries, the so-called "golden age" of the history of Georgia. It fell to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, but managed to re-assert sovereignty by 1327...

 later in the 15th century, Birtvisi was within the borders of the Kingdom of Kartli and in possession of the princes Baratashvili

Baratashvili

Baratashvili is a Georgian noble family, appearing at the end of the 15th century as a continuation of the Kachibadze , which were possibly related to the Liparitids-Orbeli....

.