Rabati Castle


Rabati Castle has been comprehensively renovated from the perilous, semi-ruined state it was left in a decade ago, and while it was a much-needed investment, sadly what greets you today feels a bit Disneyfied. You'll enter through the eastern, lower part of the complex, which doesn't require a ticket but is where you should buy one for the upper castle with its mosque, citadel and museum. A tour is a good idea to bring things alive.

Ponds and colonnaded pavilions are set before the stone-and-brick Ahmadiyya Mosque and two-storey medrese (Islamic school), built in the 1750s. The mosque (no longer used for religious purposes) now sports a dazzling new gold dome. Up to the left rise the citadel and the Samtskhe-Javakheti History Museum, which spans the aeons from the 4th-millennium-BC Kura-Araxes Culture to 19th-century regional costumes.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Samtskhe-Javakheti History Museum

0.07 MILES

The Samtskhe-Javakheti History Museum has well-displayed exhibits ranging from archaeological finds from the 4th-millennium-BC Kura-Araxes culture to…

2. Sapara Monastery

3.92 MILES

Sapara has a dramatic position clinging to a cliff edge about 12km southeast of Akhaltsikhe, and rivals Vardzia as one of the most important sights in the…

3. Khertvisi Fortress

19.54 MILES

This impressive 10th- to 14th-century fortress perches on a rocky crag above the meeting of the Paravani and Mtkvari Rivers, 45km southeast of Akhaltsikhe…

4. Khikhani Fortress

22.47 MILES

One spectacular and remote destination worth journeying to is the ruined 13th-century Khikhani Fortress on a 2200m hilltop 33km southeast from Zamleti,…

5. Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park

23.92 MILES

The ranges of the Lesser Caucasus in southern Georgia are less well known and much lower than the Great Caucasus, but they still contain some very…

6. Vardzia

24.04 MILES

The remarkable cave city of Vardzia is both a cultural symbol and a spectacular natural phenomenon with a special place in Georgian hearts. King Giorgi…

7. Tmogvi Castle

24.45 MILES

Eleven kilometres past Khertvisi Fortress towards Vardzia, atop a high rocky hill across the river (which flows far below in a gorge), the remains of the…

8. Vanis Kvabebi

24.82 MILES

About 4km south of Tmogvi village and 2km before Vardzia, a track heads 600m up from the road to this cave monastery that predated Vardzia by four…