The Samshvilde and Kldekari Museum-Reserve is a state institution founded in 2015 under Georgia's National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation. The reserve brings together sites across two municipalities, Tetri Tskaro and Tsalka, and its administration is based in Tsalka, at 19 Aristotle Street. Its collections hold around 4,000 items.
Under the reserve's protection is not only the Samshvilde fortress city but a whole range of Trialeti sites: the 9th-century Kldekari fortress, a residence of the Baghvashi eristavi on a rocky ridge summit, megalithic complexes and "vishapi" menhirs of the 2nd–1st millennia BC, a Bronze Age barrow field with an ancient processional road, cyclopean fortresses and churches carved into the canyon cliffs. Seasonally, when the water level drops, submerged villages and churches emerge from beneath the Tsalka Reservoir.
The reserve is not a single building but a protected area with dozens of monuments. A visit to Samshvilde pairs well with a walk through Samshvilde Canyon, which wraps around the ancient city on three sides. It's best to check visiting hours and access to individual sites in advance.
