Beautiful buildings in Georgia. Visit the palace of the Kakhetian kings.

The city of Telavi is the administrative and economic center of the Kakheti region. It is located in the Alazani lowland, northeast of the Gombori Pass.

In the center of the city, on an elevated place stands the most important monument of Georgian secular architecture of the late feudal period - the residence of the Kakhetian kings — "Batonistsikhe".

The construction of the complex can be divided into two stages: the construction of the royal palace was originally started by Tsar Archil II (II half of the XVII century), when he moved the royal residence from Gremi to Telavi. At that time, the "Palace of the Kakhetian Kings", the eastern gate and the bathhouse were erected. In 1753, the second stage in the history of the complex began. During the reign of Heraclius I, a court church, a multi-support fence and a western gate were added to the existing buildings.

The residence occupies 3 hectares of area. It consists of two parts: in the eastern part there is a citadel (1 ha), and in the western side there is a fortress-fence (1.5 ha). In the citadel there is a royal palace, two churches and a bathhouse. The influence of Iranian culture is felt in the design and decorative elements of the palace. This is how it differs from other Georgian royal residences. Towers and walls are crowned with high dentils. Loopholes are located in two rows on the two-story fence.

To the south-east of the citadel there is a large column (diameter – 14 meters). There is no such massive column anywhere in Georgia. It was used for artillery weapons - until the 80s of the XIX century, there was a huge cannon (7.5 m long) on it. Since 1927, a museum has been functioning in Batonistsikhe, which includes: the palace of the kings of Kakheti, court churches, ruins of a philosophical and theological school (founded by Irakli I in the 50s of the XVIII century), a royal bathhouse, an underground tunnel through the palace, magnificent fences on the east and west sides. In front of the museum there is a monument to Tsar Irakli II (sculpture - Merab Berdzenishvili).

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