Originally only a spur tower stood here. In the second half of the 17th century a feudal lord come up from the lowlands, to strengthen the tower's defenses, enclosed part of the slope below it with a high wall and put up several buildings. He also seized the Vashlobi and Chartali valleys and burdened the local people with serf dues. The Mtiulians would not endure the arbitrary rule of the lord ensconced in the fortress and, with the help of the Khevsurs, drove him out. Thereafter the fortress served to protect the Chartali and Vashlobi communities from non-Georgian mountain raiders.