Meghri Fortress

Meghri Fortress crowns the heights above the town of Meghri, Armenia’s southernmost town, set in a warm valley close to the border with Iran. Built from local reddish stone whose color blends into the arid, rocky hills, the fortress has origins in the Syunik kingdom around the late 10th–11th centuries (first mentioned in 1083) and was substantially rebuilt in the early 18th century by the liberation leader David Bek. It played a key defensive role in the 1723 campaigns against Ottoman and Persian forces, when a small garrison held out in the fortress during a notable siege. Several of its towers still survive today. A climb up to the towers rewards visitors with fine views over Meghri, the gorge, and the surrounding mountains of the deep south.