Vere fortress dates to the 9th–10th centuries. The fortress and its surroundings belonged to the emirate of Tbilisi. Together with Ateni fortress it took part in the struggle for the annexation of Kartli. From the end of the 10th century the fortress passed to the Baghvashis, dukes of Kldekari. From the 11th century until the mid-16th, the environs of Vere fortress were at the disposal of the Georgian royal house. In the summer of 1554 Shah Tahmasp took Vere fortress, opening the way to Ateni fortress, where the mother of King Luarsab I of Kartli and the families of the Kartlian nobility were sheltering.