Georgia will never end to surprise you (at least - me).
Few years ago a major tourist attraction was renovated and opened to the public, some would call it a Jewel in the Crown, while others would call it a Georgian Disneyland (appealing that like in Disney land, everything here is a butaforie).
My subjective opinion will stay somewhere in middle. Yes it's kinda of butaforie, built from lightweight materials in less than 15 month almost from scratch, but still, it's a jewel in the crown.
First time I visited the Rabati Fortress complex back in July 2014, during 2 day rafting trip. Back then we had our minds focused more on rafting than exploring Rabati Fortress. We decided to come back here when we will have more time.
That time happened at the start of January 2015. We booked Hotel Rabath, took a Tbilisi - Akhaltsikhe minibus, and in less than in 3 hours we were again in Rabati Fortress complex. This time armed with time and photo camera. The story can be told now.
Meet Rabati fortress complex with eyes of me - I managed to capture more than 200 pictures here, they all looked great for me, and it was hard to select few ones to display on my blog - at the end I selected 48 pictures of Rabati Fortress complex.
Rocks near Rabati Castle Complex
Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness
You can read my review of Hotel Rabath & Gino Wellness here
View from Hotel Rabath
Restaurant Rabath
Vineyards on terraces
View to Rabati complex
View to Rabati complex
I guess in summertime this formation becomes a fountain?
View to Akhaltsikhe town from Rabati fortress
View to Akhaltsikhe town from Rabati fortress
Rabati fortress towers
You can climb up on every tower at Rabati Fortress complex
View to Rabati complex
Hotel Rabath is located just inside of this complex
Another angle of Rabati complex
Stage in middle of Rabati complex
I guess in summertime Rabati complex is great place to held musical festivals
Souvenir shop at Rabati complex
Mainly you can buy here Georgian vine and other local goods
Arch bridge at Rabati complex
Rabati fortress Towers
Rabati Fortress Towers built in the rocks
Guard booth at Rabati complex (author of this blog captured showing entrance ticket to guards)
You must buy entrance tickets at tourism information kiosk which is located down at the entrance in Rabati complex. Ticket price - 5GEL
Aisles at Rabati Fortress
View to Rabati complex
View to Rabati complex
Georgian flag at the top of the building
I have no clue what is the name of this building - only thing what come to my mind - it's some Convent?! Correct me if I'm wrong.
Rabati Cathedral
Wooden building at Rabati complex
Rabati Fortress complex
Outdoor pool (decorative) at Rabati Fortress complex
Interesting architecture elements at Rabati Fortress complex
Inside view from Rabati cathedral
Vaults at complex
Grates at a monk's cell
Convent? built on the rocks
Stairways up to the Convent building
Rocky mountains around fortress and Akhaltsikhe town
Iron doors
On the way to reach Georgian Flag up in the tower
Flat Screen TV on rocks (inside Convent building)
Curved metal stairs heading up to the tower with Georgian Flag
View to Rabati complex from flag tower
View to Rabati complex from flag tower
View to Rabati complex from flag tower
View to Akhaltsikhe town from flag tower
View to rocky mountains from flag tower
View to surrounding villages from flag tower
Georgian Flag
Stairways down from the convent building
History museum of Samthske - Javakheti region
Inside territory of Rabati Fortress complex there is a local Samtskhe-Javakheti (region in which is situated Rabati fortress) history museum.
History museum of Samthske - Javakheti region
Unfortunately it's not allowed to photograph inside in museum - so that's the only one photo I managed to illegally capture here
Tips
- Entrance fee in Rabati fortress complex - 5 GEL
- You can have a guided tour by additional 20 GEL
- You can reach Akhaltsikhe from Tbilisi by minibus in less than 3 hours
- You should allocate at least 3 hours for exploring Rabati fortress complex