The legend of the Khertvisi towers

Khertvisi castle has two large watchtowers towers, a five-sided and a four-sided one. Legend has it that these towers were built under the reign of Queen Tamar during the Golden Age of Georgia in the early 12th century. Queen Tamar was the elder daughter of King George III and the first female ruler of Georgia from 1184 until 1213.

The story is as follows: Queen Tamar ordered two towers to be built, one by a master stonecutter, the other by his apprentice. The master was to build the eastern tower and the apprentice the western one. Queen Tamar promised to richly reward whoever would build the more beautiful tower.

As it turned out the apprentice did the better job, because the five-sided western watchtower pleased the queen more than the four-sided one on the east corner.

But the master was not willing to accept defeat and became terribly angry. While his apprentice was high up on his tower finishing his work, the master removed all but two of the wooden boards that served as a staircase.

Unable to come down again, the apprentice took the two remaining boards, used them as wings and jumped off the tower. He died from injuries sustained while trying to land on the banks of the nearby river.

Therefore, Khertvisi Fortress and the area around is still called "place of sacrifice" by the local people.

Picture credits: beyondarts GmbH

Project “Increased regional added value in the tourism sectors of Georgia by Digital Heritage Tourism Guides” was funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) with funds of Austrian Development Cooperation.