Nokalakevi-Archaeopolis: The triple walled fortress of Lazika

Description

Invited to deliver a lecture to the Southampton Archaeology Society, as part of their programme of evening presentations.

"Nestled by the picturesque river Tekhuri, on the northern edge of the Colchian plain in western Georgia, lie the impressive ruins of Nokalakevi. Situated 50km from the Black Sea coast and occupying 18ha, the modern name of Nokalakevi translates as ‘ruins where a town was’, mirroring the name given to it by early Byzantine historians, Archaeopolis, meaning ‘old city’ and hinting at its perceived antiquity even then. The site was known to the Georgian chroniclers as Tsikhegoji, or the fortress of Kuji – a semi-mythical Colchian ruler of the Hellenistic period – though the impressive fortifications were constructed in the 4th- 6th centuries AD. With the completion of the final phase of those fortifications, during the Emperor Justinian’s preparations for war with Persia, the site also became known as the ‘triple walled fortress’. This talk described the excavation results of the ‘Anglo-Georgian Expedition to Nokalakevi’ since 2001, and outline what we now know about the site."

Period	8 Mar 2022
Held at	Southampton City Museums and Archaeology Society, United Kingdom
Degree of Recognition	Regional