Telavi

Telavi overlooks the Alazani valley from the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombori range, amid the vineyards of Kakheti. It was a royal centre in medieval Georgia and became the seat of the Kakhetian kings again after the devastation of Gremi. The fortified royal residence, Batonis Tsikhe, enclosed a palace, churches and baths above the town.

King Archil moved his court to Telavi in the seventeenth century, and the residence was later rebuilt under Erekle II. Born in Telavi, Erekle ruled Kakheti and then the united kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti. His palace combined Georgian and Iranian architectural influences, while its walls offered protection in a country threatened by invasion. After his death in 1798, Russian annexation of Kartli-Kakheti in 1801 ended the kingdom's independence and Telavi's role as a royal capital.