Likhauri Fortress

Likhauri Fortress is located in Guria, in the village of Likhauri, Ozurgeti Municipality. It must have been built in the XIV-XVI centuries. Likhauri Fortress was captured by the Turks in 1774, along with Askani Fortress and Bukistsikhe, although it was recaptured in the same year by Mamia IV Gurieli and Solomon I. During the Russo-Ottoman War, when Karl Hesse entered Guria, Sophio Gurieli took refuge in Likhauri Fortress. It is known from historical sources that the ruler of Upper Adjara, Ahmed Beg, ordered Sophio Gurieli to be handed over to Askani and Likhauri. Sophio Gurieli wrote in response: "I can not give these two fortresses: I can not give these two prisons: in one is my residence and in the other, I have my children."According to Tedo Sakhokia, who was in Likhauri in 1896, a Russian military unit was stationed in the fortress. In the XIX century, Likhauri fortress was sheltered by firals. Dubois de Montpéreux, Dimitri Bakradze, and Tedo Sakhokia visited and described the castle at different times. Likhauri Fortress is also described by Ekvtime Takaishvili, who was originally from the village of Likhauri.

Architecture

Likhauri Fortress is a rectangular building with three towers of different sizes and shapes. The north tower is rectangular and narrows slightly upwards. It has four floors and its first floor is the main gate of the prison. The first floor of the tower has a stone arched roof. It seems that the second and third floors were supposed to be residential, while the fourth was for combat. On the second and fourth floors, there are artillery pieces in the walls. In the western part of the fence, there is a back tower, the back of which goes out of the fence. The building has a countertop from the yard. The first floor of the tower is deaf, and the entrance is arranged on the second floor. Artillery is included in the walls. There is also a four-story trapezoidal tower in the eastern part of the fence. The entrance here is also on the second floor, the first floor is deaf. The second and third floors of the tower are residential, and the fourth should have been a battlefield. There are small arches and artillery in the walls. To the north of the tower are the remains of a building attached to the fence, Of which the remnants of a two-arched wall are preserved. At the top of the fence, there is a combat trail. There is a well in the fortress yard. In the southern part of the fort is a whitewashed building, the purpose of which is not specified. Likhauri Fortress is built of partially processed stones of cobblestone, basalt, and sandstone on the lime mortar.