Alexander Boshishvili
Assistant Professor in History at Faculty of Humanities, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
Abstract
The Bardusi Gorge belonged to the province of Tao. According to the administrative division of the Republic of Turkey, the Bardusi fortress is located in Şenkaya İlçe (district) of Erzurum ili (Province). The modern name of Bardusi is Gaziler.The Bardusi fortress is located in the beginning of the Bardusi Gorge and is mentioned in a number of Georgian, Turkish and other sources. Several important roads crossed the fortress from Tao to Basiani and Kars. This explains the importance of the fortress and the need to have it constantly fortified.Nowadays, the fortress is heavily damaged. Ornamental stones are put in its walls. This could mean that they were reused after the collapse of the church which was on the territory of the fortress. On one of such stones there is 10th century Georgian inscription. The inscription mentions Giorgi (or Gabriel), who asks for God’s forgiveness.
