Kindgi Fortress, Medieval fortress in Abkhazia, Georgia.

Kindgi Fortress stands at the mouth of the small Chasha River on the Black Sea coast, 36 km from Sukhum. It is the oldest Genoese fortification in Abkhazia, dating from the 13th century, and the only Genoese fortress in the region marked on medieval Italian maps. Its walls, built of local stone, enclose a small area; a cannonball from a Turkish assault remains embedded in the masonry.

Built between the 13th and 15th centuries as a Genoese trading post, the fortress first handled ordinary goods with the local population and later became a slave-trading centre. Its inhabitants included Genoese, Greeks, Armenians and Abkhazians, and it was subordinate to the Mokvi bishopric, approved by the Pope in 1318. After Constantinople fell in 1453 the Genoese colonies weakened and the fortress was bought by the Banco di San Giorgio; the Turks took the land about twenty years later and never restored it.

The fortress was a Genoese trading post where Genoese, Greeks, Armenians and Abkhaz lived together; it later became a slave-trading centre under the Mokvi bishopric, approved by the Pope in 1318. In summer a café operates inside the ruins and a viewing platform overlooks the coast.

The best time to visit is during spring or autumn when the weather is milder. Bring sturdy footwear since the uneven ground and climbing require solid shoes to navigate safely.

A cannonball found during 1970s excavations is still lodged in the fortress wall, likely left after a Turkish assault in the 1470s, since the site was never repaired afterwards. Divers in Skurcha Bay reported wall outlines on the seabed from 1973, and in 1980 found piles of cobblestone.