Omune Jikha

What is Omunes Jikha and why should you visit it? 

On the banks of the Enguri River, on the way between Zugdidi city and Mestia road leading to Svaneti, lies the town of Jvari, where you can visit the 15th-century Omune Fortress, known as Omunes Jikha. In the local Megrelian language, jikha means “fortress,” and Omune was once a village in this area.

There is little information about the fortress, however, it is assumed that according to its location and position, it held important surveillance and signalling functions and that from this tower the territory all the way to the Black Sea was observed.

According to some experts, the tower was built with cobblestones from the Enguri River. The building is three-storied, quadrangular in its layout, and has two narrow windows on its east side. In addition, the embrasures are located high, and the lower floor of the tower is closed (probably for security purposes) while the upper floor was used for combat.