the ruins of the geguti palace complex occupy the area of over 2,000 m along the rioni river. an extensive fieldwork between 1953 and 1956 allowed the specialists to stratify the principal archaeological layers and reconstruct the architectural form and decoration of the medieval edifices bulk of which dates to the 12th century, the period when the first written mention of geguti appears in the georgian chronicle. the earliest structure – a plain, one-room building with a large fireplace – dates back to the 8th/9th century. a principal part of the royal complex, commissioned by king george iii of georgia (), is a four-tier brick edifice built onto a three-metre high stone plinth, with its spacious, cruciform central hall surmounted by a dome 14 m in diameter resting on squinches. the entire building is walled and fortified with massive pillars. westerly located additional structures and a palace church are of a later period, dating to the 13th/14th century.