| Q'ueli fortress/Kol (Kuvel) Kalesi | |
|---|---|
| Near Kolköy, Posof, Ardahan Province, Turkey | |
  Q'ueli fortress/Kol (Kuvel) Kalesi | |
| Coordinates | 41°26′31″N 42°37′26″E / 41.44197°N 42.62386°E |
Q'ueli (Georgian: ყუელი) or Q'uelis-tsikhe (ყუელისციხე, "fortress of Q'ueli") was a medieval Georgian fortress atop the homonymous mountain of the Arsiani Range (Yalnızçam Dağları), now within the boundaries of Turkey, where it is known as Kol Kalesi or Kuvel Kalesi.[1] Its Georgian name is alternatively transliterated as Qveli, Kveli, K'veli, Qvelis-ts'ikhe or Qvelis-c'ixe.[2] First appearing in the early 10th-century Georgian sources, Q'ueli was one of the principal fortifications of the province of Samtskhe until being conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century.
The name Q'ueli/Q'uelis-tsikhe literally translates from Georgian as "a cheese fortress", which was a source of the Greek equivalent Tyrokastron (Τυρόχαστρον)—the name by which the fortress is mentioned in Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos's De Administrando Imperio.[2]
- ^ (in Turkish) Kol Kalesi ve Kol Zaferinin Tarihçesi. Posof.gov.tr. 24 Haziran 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
- ^ a b Toumanoff, Cyril (1963). Studies in Christian Caucasian History, pp. 492-495. Georgetown University Press.