Jvari Monastery: Courtyard toward the Watchtower Ruin

Courtyard toward the Watchtower Ruin. Looking across the courtyard to a lone ruined tower, with the hills and valleys opening behind it. From this crag watchmen could follow every road along both valleys — one reason the hill was fortified for centuries. Its design became a model known as the “Jvari type”, repeated at Ateni Sioni and in other churches across Georgia and the South Caucasus.