In 2007, Okros Tsikhe was inscribed on the list of Georgia's Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance.

Its thick walls are built of massive crudely trimmed blocks of stone, standing to a height of 10 meters.

The citadel tops a rocky ridge of the mount and its ramparts—reinforced with large towers—steeply descent on both southern and northern slopes.

Owing to its dominant position in the Kvabliani valley, the fortress played a prominent role in the defense of Samtskhe against the invading Ottoman army during Lala Mustafa Pasha's Caucasian campaign in 1578.

After the final Ottoman conquest of the province, the fortress was known by its Turkish name, Altunkal'a, and served as the center of the homonymous district (liva).