Muhran fortress

Muhran fortress ( cargo. მუხრანის ციხე ) is a fortress in Georgia .

Plan of the Mukhran fortress

Located in Mukhrani , on the left bank of the Ksani River. Built by Konstantin Mukhran-Batoni. One of the largest medieval Georgian fortresses. Its area is 2.5 hectares . The fortress was built in 1733 and consists of two parts: the citadel, which has survived to this day, and the wall, from which today there is nothing left. In the 19th century, the local population dismantled the fortress and used stones to build houses.

Two inscriptions about the citadel have survived - the first is placed above the gate arch, and the second above the entrance to the main tower of the citadel ^[1] . The first inscription is executed on sandstone and poorly preserved, but Georgian scientists managed to decipher it ^[1] :

Trusting in God, we, Mukhran-Batoni and Sahlhutsesi Konstantin, built this fence and towers in Shiosubani with our money and money and put a lot of work at a time when infidels showed their power over the country of Kartli. Villages and settlements were devastated in places, and this Shiosubani was devastated, and its indigenous people dispersed. I gathered them and fenced them with a stone wall, because the village was the ancestral home of my ancestors and I was their heir. Whoever reads this, let him remember my labors. Since the Nativity of Christ 1756, Choronicon 444

The second inscription reads:

We Mukhran-Batoni and Sahlkhutsesi Konstantin, built this Shiosuban fence with towers and this tower was called "Mama-Burji", because it is larger than other towers and more spacious. Since the Nativity of Christ 1756, Choronicon 444

Both inscriptions say that the fortress was built in the village of Shiosubani, which no longer exists. It is known that the fortress was built with the help of the Turkish governor Isaac Pasha, who gathered workers not only in the possessions of Mukhran-Batoni, but also in adjacent areas. According to the Georgian chronicler, the fortress was built by 600 Georgian workers. The plan of the citadel is almost a square - in the corners of the wall are cylindrical towers, and inside there is one oil church . The entrance to the citadel is located in the center of the eastern wall, while the other walls are deaf and have the same height. Most of the towers are small in size and belong to the same type. The largest tower is northeast. ^[one]

The fortress walls are two-story. The lower part is wider than the upper one, which creates a combat trail that continues along the entire perimeter (the height of the lower tier is 4 - 4.5 meters, and the upper is 50-70 cm higher). The loophole has only the upper part of the walls, which ended with semicircular teeth. The left part of the wall has three niches - one large and two small ones, of which only the western niche is lined with brick and covered with a lancet arch ^[1] .

The church of the Mukhran fortress is located in the north-eastern part of the fortress. The church has 8 windows and two entrances. One window is located in the center of the absides, the other on the side facade . There are 5 windows in the side walls - three in the north and two in the south. One entrance is located in the west, the other in the south. A cross and rhombuses are carved in the middle horizon of the walls on the facade. In the eastern facade around the central window there are three crosses - one large and two smaller ones.

• 

  Mukhran fortress.

• 

  Fortress inside