The small Fortress of Slesa is located 25 kilometers south of Borjomi. It is also called the Moktseva Fortress. If you are traveling through the Borjomi Gorge to the Cave settlement of Vardzia, then a short stop at the fortress will be quite interesting. The towers of the fortress rise on two rocky hills above the bed of the Kura River.
Two towers of the Fortress of Slesa on two rocky hills were erected in the 11th-14th centuries. One of the towers stands separate and has no windows. The other tower has a small fortified area nearby, but also looks like a tower, not a fortress.
Unlike the powerful Fortress of Atskuri (5 km south of Slesa) and the even more powerful Fortress of Khertvisi (70 km south), the fortress of Slesa is more similar to battle towers. Perhaps it was in a single system of fortifications with the Atskuri Fortress, since these two fortresses are within sight of each other. There are no foundations for the construction of a full-fledged fortress on the hills between the towers of the Fortress of Slesa.
In 2020, part of the southwest tower of the Fortress of Slesa collapsed. Eyewitnesses say that it happened because of a lightning strike, although other reasons are possible. In 2021, the Fortress of Slesa was closed for reconstruction, as a result the local authorities promise to completely restore it.
