Tsopi Fortress

There are more than 150 fortresses in Georgia that have survived time, the elements, and invasions. Some of them are perfectly preserved, some are in ruins. The fortresses are scattered like pearls throughout the beautiful countryside of Georgia and capture the attention of foreign and domestic visitors as they tell stories about the heroic past of this small country. The Tsopi fortress was built on a rocky mountain in Tsopi village, on the left bank of the Banushchai River in Marneuli Municipality in Kvemo Kartli region.

Region

Kvemo Kartli

City

Marneuli

It was a strategic site from the 6th to the 13th century, watching over the road leading to Armenia from Dmanisi-Lore.

It is built from white, square limestone blocks in the so-called Ujarma construction method. Ruins of the upper fortress and fragments of the wall have fallen in recent years. Within the wall, you see ancient residential complexes on terraces and a small church.

There is a small abandoned settlement near Tsopi Fortress, thrived during the Chalcolithic period (3rd millennium BCE) - the archaeological research proved the existence of an agricultural community living there approximately 5000 years ago. At the moment, there are only two lonely hall-type churches from the 6th-7th centuries there. Tsopi Fortress and its surroundings definitely leave a lot of space for imagination!

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