Old fortresses in Georgia. Rabat is the fortress of Akhaltsikhe.

The historical and geographical region of Georgia Samtskhe (currently Akhaltsikhe Municipality) extends in the Akhaltsikhe basin, in the share of the Kura and Potskhvi rivers. The center of the municipality, the city of Akhaltsikhe, is located at the mouth of these rivers. Akhaltsikhe is one of the oldest cities in Georgia (the old name is Lomsianta). It was located at the crossroads of highways connecting Kartli, Javakheti, Adjara, Imereti and Tao-Klarzheti and has always been distinguished by a multinational population. Georgians, Armenians, Greeks, and Jews lived here together. The city was surrounded by a fence, and Rabati, the fortress of the Jakeli family, the rulers of Samtskhe, towered in the center of the city.

In the territory of today's Akhaltsikhe in the 10th century, Gvaram (Guram) Mumpali (Georgian politician, the youngest son of Ashot I the Great) built the fortress city of Lomsianta. In the XII century, the princes of Dzhakeli renovated the fortress and named it Akhaltsikhe — the New Fortress. In the XVII century, the Ottomans included the entire region of Samtskhe-Javakheti into the "Vilayet of Gurjistan", and called the Eyalet of Akhaltsikhe (eyalet is an administrative unit in the Turkish Empire).

From this period, the process of Islamization of the region began, which lasted for 300 years. Akhaltsikhe became a center of prisoner trade and a springboard for the North Caucasian tribes, who were encouraged by the Turks. It is from Akhaltsikhe For centuries, North Caucasian detachments have attacked and ravaged the regions of Western and Eastern Georgia. Akhaltsikhe was freed from Ottoman rule only in 1829.

The fortress is located in the center of the city, on the top and slopes of the mountain, on the left bank of the Potshovi River. On the territory of 7 hectares there is a citadel with a fortress-hall, a church with a gate and a bell tower, workshops, baths, a cave, a mosque with a minaret, a madrasah, a viaduct.

The fortress in Akhaltsikhe received the name "Rabati" during the three hundred years of Turkish rule.

Today the church has been restored, some of the destroyed buildings have been completed. For this purpose, additional money was allocated from the country's budget, certain agreements were reached with the Turkish government. Since 2012, Rabati Fortress has been one of the main tourist destinations in Georgia.

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