Tmogvi or Tmkaberd (Georgian: თმოგვი [tʰmoɡʷi]; Armenian: Թմկաբերդ) is a ruined fortress and medieval town in the southern Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti, on the left bank of the Kura River, a few kilometers downstream of the cave city of Vardzia.

The king imprisoned two rulers of the duchy of Klarjeti, Sumbat III and his brother Gurgen, in the fortress.

[3] In 1073, it was given in apanage to the nobleman Niania Kuabulisdze; his descendants kept it in the following centuries, before it passed to other major feudal families such as the Toreli, the Tmogveli, the Shalikashvili or the Jaqeli.

[citation needed] The castle of Tmogvi was built in picturesque surroundings, on top of a poorly accessible mountain high above the Kura River.

Outside of the walls, on the western side, the church of Saint Ephrem subsists in ruined condition, with fragments of frescoes from the 13th century.

[4] In 1902, Armenia's national poet Hovhannes Tumanyan wrote one of his most famous poems, titled The Capture of Tmkaberd (Թմկաբերդի առումը).

[5][6][7] Based on Tumanyan's work, Russian poet Sophia Parnok wrote the libretto "The Capture of Tmbkaberd" («Взятие Тмкаберда»).

After poisoning her husband and making his army drunk, the duke's wife opened the castle gates for the enemy.

After taking the castle the Persians perpetrated a brutal reprisal against its defenders and residents of nearby villages.