Bakhtrioni

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Bakhtrioni is a ruined fortress from the 17th century in Kakheti, eastern Georgia, on the left bank of the Alazani River near its meeting with the Ilto. It was built in the 1650s as a Safavid Iranian outpost to strengthen control over the area and to protect Turkic nomads moved into Georgia.

The fortress stood on a strategic site that controlled routes to the Greater Caucasus and the lands of the Georgian highlanders in Tusheti, Pshavi, and Khevsureti. It was garrisoned by a Qizilbash force left by Iran. In 1659, the Georgian highlanders joined Kakheti rebels in a surprise attack, destroying the Qizilbash force and capturing the nearby fortress Alaverdi.

The battle is celebrated in Georgian folklore, with heroes such as Zezva Gaprindauli, Nadira Khosharauli, and Gogolauri named in stories. It inspired the late 19th-century poet Vazha-Pshavela to write the epic poem Bakhtrioni in 1892. Today only ruins remain. The name Bakhtrioni lives on in streets named after it in Tbilisi, Akhmeta, Telavi, Lagodekhi, Kareli, and Kaspi. The name comes from the nearby village Bakhtriani.