Gori Fortress — Attraction in Gori

As of Oct 2, 2024 and weeks preceding, the fortress courtyard at the top has been run over by stray dogs. Odds are you'll get bitten as they assert in bare teeth and loud growling their motto of "Thou shall not pass." The security guard posted at the top may help calm them down if the situation escalates, but he'd rather not have you visit this public place. For now, someone needs to pacify the fortress and liberate it from the canine occupiers. Until then, this is a magnificent touristic spot that will remain out of reach -- for perhaps another season.

Long version: Going up the hill on the newly paved path, we passed two tourists that were coming back down: they warned us of aggressive dogs at the top that prevented their sightseeing. "We'll try our luck!", I said.

As if scouting for intruders, two dogs were already peeking out of one of the wall towers, barking down at us.

We climbed the final staircase, passed through the fortress gate, and of a sudden three stray dogs came upon us, barking, growling, and closing in. One was particularly vicious, barring its teeth. A fortress guard in uniform appeared and attempted to calm them down. With soothing voice commands, he did manage to bring two of them to a halt near him. The third, though shyer was sneaky and kept creeping in on us. But it'd back off the moment I'd turn back and scare it away.

As we were interested in checking the viewpoints located along the walls of the fortress, we kept our incursion into the wide courtyard. Alas, that was not to be as the other two dogs eventually came back and attacked us a second time. The more violent one came within 1 meter of me and was ready to bite. Seeing this, the guard ran to our position and successfully called them back, allowing us to escape and retreat down the staircase.

Presumably views from atop the fortress are beautiful, but we could not admire them.

Judging from Google reviews in the past two months, the administration must be aware of this problem but hasn't found a way to pacify the fortress and liberate it from the canine occupiers.

A magnificent touristic spot that will remain out of reach -- for perhaps...

Gori Fortress (Georgian: გორის ციხე, "Goris Tsikhe") is a medieval citadel in Georgia, standing above the city of Gori on a rocky hill. The fortress first appears in the 13th century records but archaeological evidence shows that the area had already been fortified in the last centuries BC. The fortress controlled major strategic and economic routes and accommodated a large garrison.

The sculptures that comprise the Memorial of Georgian Warrior Heroes were made between 1981-85 by Georgian sculptor Giorgi Ochiauri (Georgian: ოჩიაური გოგი) and placed around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Vake Park in Tbilisi. In 2009 the sculptures were moved to their present location at the foot of Gori Fortress in the city of Gori (Georgian: გორი) in Shida Kartli region. The memorial consists of eight warriors seated in a circle on individual rough hewn stone blocks. A stone has been been placed to one side of the circle that has niches for candles.

How to get there🚐: A minibus from Tbilisi’s Didube (Metro Didube) bus station to the bus terminal in Gori will take about one and a half hours. The Memorial is located at the foot...

Gori Fortress you can’t really miss it as the location is in the center of town on top of a hill. After stopping for a quick bite, we were off to find the entrance. Walking around the bottom of the hill we finally found a pathway that looked like it would take us to the entrance. There is no entrance fee to visit Gori Fortress. You walk up a staircase that leads you up to the gate where you enter. I’ll be honest there is not that much to see. The only visible signs of the fort are the walls, which are impressive. No buildings are within the walls of the Fortress, making it difficult to imagine what it may have looked like in its glory. The views from atop of the hill are truly incredible. You can see out over the city and far into the surrounding...