Footage captured by a drone showcases a 1,000-year-old fortress in the mountainous area of eastern Georgia.

The Georgian highlanders used these fortifications for defensive purposes against attackers.

In wartimes, when misfortune befell the Georgian highlanders, it was in the fortified buildings or dwelling towers used for defensive purposes where the battle-hardened Khevsurs, who knew no rest from enemies, would find a secure refuge, relative peace and almost the only chance of preventing physical annihilation. Numbers of century-old fortress-towers are still seen standing proudly on the long-suffering soil of Khevsureti and with a haughty gaze witnessing the flow of days, months and centuries into eternity… “Unbeaten” Shatili is the most illustrative, so to say, striking example of a symphony of stone. A cluster of houses put up in stone side by side creates an unforgettable sight. The rusty walls of the fortress-village skillfully designed and embodied by anonymous builders have retained the memory of bygone times when in clashes against enemies the ambitious highlanders used primitive bows and locally forged short swords instead of rifles and gunpowder.
“Rust adorns thee, sword, and mould’ring
Is thy scabbard once so fine.
Where is thy master’s arm of iron,
Where is that flashing gleam of thine?”
(“The Sword’s Complaint” by Vazha Pshavela)
The strongholds were erected on suitable sites, reasonably chosen from a strategic point of view. The solid and rigid bedplate provided a firm guarantee of stability and durability of a structure built for defensive purposes. The North-Caucasian stone masons along with the local builders were actively engaged in the construction of defense towers in the mountainous areas of Eastern Georgia https://khevsureti.ge/%E1%83%AA%E1%83%98%