Khikhani

Khikhani Fortress stands on a high mountain in southwestern Georgia, protected by steep ground and defensive walls. Its exact construction date is uncertain, but the complex includes medieval towers, a church and a wine cellar. From the eleventh to the sixteenth century it served as a principal residence of the Abuserisdze family, nobles of Adjara closely connected to the Georgian royal court.

The thirteenth-century scholar Tbel Abuserisdze is associated with work at the fortress, including restoration of its church and cellar. Ottoman expansion later changed the region's political order. In 1815 Selim Khimshiashvili took refuge at Khikhani, where Ottoman forces captured the fortress. Its history joins the local noble household to the shifting struggles of the Georgian-Ottoman frontier.