Sioni Watchtower

The watchtower stands on a rocky ledge above the village of Sioni on the Georgian Military Road, some six kilometres southwest of Stepantsminda. Built of flat slabs of slate, it tapers towards the top and ends in a crenellated crown - the usual type of defensive tower in Khevi, where a family or a whole village would take shelter during a raid. The exact date of construction is unknown; the tower is assigned to the late Middle Ages, but the site was settled far earlier: on the same ground stands a basilica dated to the tenth century, and it is from this that the village took its name. The ledge drops almost vertically to the road, so from below only the top of the tower and the cross above the church can be seen, while from the opposite bank the whole composition opens up. Meadows lie all around, with cows wandering freely across them, and far below the Terek roars over its gravel bed. Further north the valley widens, and in good weather the white cap of Kazbek can already be made out from here. The Georgian Military Road passes directly beneath the ledge, so you notice the tower from the car several bends in advance. The name Sioni itself repeats that of the hill in Jerusalem and occurs more than once in Georgia.

On the map