Artvin Castle

Artvin Castle, also known as Livane Castle, is the castle in the town of Artvin, the administrative centre of Artvin Province. The castle's high walls run around the rock on which it stands. Its several-storey tower has survived to the present day in quite good condition. Among the other structures in the castle, the four-cornered building on the eastern side of the castle is notable. It is thought that this building was a church. Part of the cistern in the castle and fragments of the jars known as kvevri have survived to the present day. The restored castle is referred to by the local people as "Livane Castle".

Artvin Castle was built in 937 by the Georgian king Ashot the Great. After it passed into Ottoman hands in the middle of the 16th century it was repaired and enlarged. A small castle, Artvin Castle controlled the entrance to the town of Artvin and traffic on the Çoruh River. Because it formerly lay within a military zone, it could be visited only with special permission and in the company of a soldier. The castle was opened to visitors after being restored in 2004 and illuminated in 2012.

Machine-translated from “Artvin Kalesi” on the Turkish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Artvin Castle ranks #7,640 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #121 of the 129 mapped in Turkey. Founded 937, it is older than 94% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 138 atlas entries founded in the 10th century. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Batumi, 53 km away. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia (in Turkish) ↗