Artvin is a rugged mountain province in northeastern Turkey, bordered by Georgia to the east and the Black Sea coast to the north. The province shelters a remarkable concentration of medieval Georgian Orthodox churches and monasteries hidden in forested valleys, alongside the Çoruh River — one of the world's fastest-flowing rivers and a world-class whitewater rafting destination. Dense chestnut and pine forests cloak the slopes of the Kaçkar and Karçal mountain ranges, while high plateaus offer cool summer escapes and pastoral landscapes that have changed little in centuries.
Historical timeline
Key moments that shaped Artvin.
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1
Colchian Bronze Age culture in the Çoruh and Rioni valleys; the legendary Kingdom of Colchis, land of Medea and the Golden Fleece (Greek mythology)
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2
Christianity adopted by the Georgian Kartli-Iberian kingdom; evangelisation of the Çoruh Valley begins
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3
Tao-Klarjeti Georgian kingdom flourishes; construction of the great Artvin monasteries — Dolishane (c. 963 CE), Tbeti, Opiza, Porta (Haho)
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4
Byzantine Emperor Basil II takes the Tao region; Georgian architecture ceases under Byzantine control
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5
Seljuk Turkish invasion of Anatolia; Georgian churches abandon. Region enters centuries of contested control
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6
Ottoman Empire definitively captures Artvin region under Kılıç Ali Pasha
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7
Treaty of Berlin: Russia gains Artvin (then named Ardanuj/Artanuçi) after defeating the Ottomans in the 1877–78 war
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8
Treaty of Kars: Artvin returned to Turkey following Turkish War of Independence and Bolshevik agreement
Historical sites
Places where Artvin's past comes alive.
Dolishane Monastery
Where: Pirnallı village, Ardanuç district
Admission: Free
Tbeti (Tbet) Church
Where: Cevizli village, Şavşat district
Admission: Free
Artvin Castle (Çoruh Kalesi)
Where: Above Artvin city centre
Admission: Free