Keli fortress (probably the fortress granted, by order of Queen Tamar, to the chief mandator Chiaber together with Zhinvali and the "Seven Mtiuletis") was an important strategic stronghold of the town of Zhinvali. From the fortress a defensive wall descended westward toward the town, with a gateway at its foot. In 1973–1989 the fortress was excavated by the East Georgia Highlands archaeological expedition of the Iv. Javakhishvili Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography (led by M. Margvelashvili).