Saro Church and Fortress

The mystical village of Saro is located some 10km south of the city Aspindza, if you take the main road ს 11 (S 11) from Aspindza to Khertvisi Fortress and Vardzia Cave Monastery.

About 2 km before you reach Khertvisi Fortress, a small cobble road on the left leads you right to Saro.

Saro, with its ruins and groups of megalith stones, is a fascinating melting pot of old Georgian history that goes back to the 2nd millennium BC.

The cultural attractions of Saro are a well-preserved church from the 7th century with a small shop nearby for local handicraft, the remains of buildings made from huge, unworked stones and, above all, remnants of typical Meskhetian houses from the 7th and 8th century.

Meskhetians were the original population of the Samthske region, settling in the area as early as the 2nd millennium BC. Archaeological excavations in the vicinity of Saro show that the village and its surroundings were most probably populated from the early 1st millennium on.

The remnants of Meskhetian houses that can be seen here date back to the 7th and 8th century. Traditional houses of the region were built to equally meet the requirements for protection and climate and are therefore almost buried in the ground. And they have a unique thermal effective feature: the typical swallow-dome-roof.

Due to the dry and harsh climate, houses of the Samthske region were semi-underground and mostly built of stone. But they had wooden ceilings and roofs with an opening at the top, unique both in style and practicality. The ceiling is often constructed as a vault in the form of a pyramid with a stepped series of hewn logs and beams.

The central elements are the wooden columns, not only in terms of construction but also for context and decoration, as is often emphasized by the astral designs carved on them.

In Georgia you can also find the term “darbazi” to describe the chamber of a house with this traditional type of architecture. A darbazi would let the sunlight in and at the same time the smoke from the fireplace out. 

This piece of architecture must already have been known to the Romans as Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio included a description of a darbazi in his famous masterpiece “De Architectura”, the only known ancient work on architecture.

In Georgia, the darbazi house, with local variations, continued to be constructed into the 20th century, mostly in the provinces of Kartli, Kakheti, and Samtskhe-Javakheti.

If you decide to visit Saro, be sure to bring warm clothes from fall to spring and to wear sturdy shoes at all times, as the village lies at an altitude of nearly 1500m above sea level. But if you catch Saro  on a clear, sunny day, the huge stone blocks adopt a yellow sheen and one is rewarded with spectacular panoramic views.

How to get there:
Saro Village is located some 10km south of the city Aspindza, when you take the main road ს 11 (S 11) from Aspindza to Khertvisi Fortress and Vardzia cave Monastery. About 2km before you reach Khertvisi Fortress, a small cobble road turns left and leads you right to Saro Village. A taxi from Akhaltsikhe takes app. 40 minutes (30 GEL), a minibus app. 1 hour (4 GEL).

Distances from major cities:
Akhaltsikhe - Saro: 46km | Aspindza - Saro: 17km

Opening hours:
Saro Village can be visited at any time during the week or on weekends.

Admission fee:
There is no admission fee.

Important things to know:
There is a small shop, where you can buy water and some local goods and handicraft.

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