Queen Tamara watchtower is located in the narrowest part of the Darial Gorge, on the bank of the Terek.
Despite its name, these fortifications are considerably older than the XIII century: the gorge itself was fortified as early as antiquity, since it served as the only route through the Main Caucasus Range.
The popular name of the castle is largely literary in character—there is no historical evidence that Queen Tamar ever lived here.
The name became established thanks to folk legends.
The most famous legend tells of a beautiful ruler who invited travelers she liked, spent the night with them, and then ordered their bodies thrown into the turbulent waters of the Terek.
In the XIX century this motif was artistically reworked by Mikhail Lermontov in the poem “Tamara” (1841), which firmly connected the historical ruins with the medieval Georgian monarch.