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 in reddish local stone whose color blends into the arid, rocky hills, the fortress has origins in the Syunik kingdom around the 10th–11th centuries and was substantially rebuilt in the early 18th century by the liberation leader David Bek. It is remembered for a celebrated siege in 1723, when a small garrison held out against a far larger Ottoman army. Several of its towers still survive. A climb up to the walls rewards visitors with fine views over Meghri, the gorge and the surrounding mountains of the deep south.