The ruins of Bagrat castle testify about the glorious past of Abkhazian kingdom. They are situated in a green hill in the eastern suburban part of Sukhum. The magnificent castle was built in the 10 th – 11 th centuries during the reign of Bagrat III, the first Abkhazian tsar, and was named after him. The castle was used as a stronghold guarding the southern approaches to the city from the Basla river estuary and controlled Sukhum port. The fortress was oval in plan and had two entrances (western and eastern) reinforced by tetragonal towers.
You can still see the remains of the underground passage leading to the nearest stream as well the powerful fortifications. Their thickness is 1.8 m, the height – up to 12 m. The walls are lined with big boulders. Blackened with time they are grown with shrubs and ivy. In the middle of the last century the castle territory saw big-scale archaeological activities. During the excavation they found pithos - big household vessels dug into the earth, fragments of jugs, bowls, kitchen ware, iron knifes, nails and other objects dated the 11 th – 13 th centuries. More finds included bones of animals, fragments of glass bracelets, a 12 th -century Byzantine coin, and brown ware. |
