Arsha fortress was built in the 16th–17th centuries. The people of Khevi took refuge here during enemy invasions. The fortress had strategic importance, controlling the Tergi and Sno valleys over a great distance. "The fortress of Arsha, made without the hands of men, upon a high rock, walled by the rock itself and impregnable to men," wrote Vakhushti Bagrationi. The historic iron lock with which the fortress gate was fastened was kept here; according to legend, a man of Arsha named Ghurma Bazali brought the lock back after the Georgian army took Ganja.