Bardız Castle

The fortress stands as a mostly enclosed stronghold with its surrounding curtain walls forming the primary layout. The walls were built using a fill-wall method, with a packed interior supported by two facing layers and reinforced by two rows of timber beams set into the stonework; several of those wooden elements remain visible. Over time the interior court has been partly filled with later deposits, so that the present ground and water levels lie roughly five metres above older surfaces.

The main gate opens to the west. The masonry around the gateway is damaged, yet the southern jamb and fragments of the gateway arch survive in place, giving a clear sense of the original entrance alignment.

A rectangular defensive tower occupies the southwest corner and rises to about eight metres. The tower’s corners are clad or finished in contrasting hues, with descriptions recording combinations such as white, red and orange, and black, white and red. Several blocks set into the tower’s southern wall preserve carved Georgian decorative motifs; these stones have been identified as facing elements taken from a former church and reused during later rebuilding.

To the north of the enclosure an artificial mound marks the collapsed remains interpreted as a palace or a church connected with the fort’s occupation, while further structural fragments appear in the central area of the courtyard. Set into the curtain wall at about three and a half metres height, a reddish stone carries a two-line inscription in Georgian Asomtavruli script. Paleographic features place this inscription in the tenth century, and the stone is regarded as having been taken from a ruined church wall and recycled into the fortress fabric.