Queli

Q'ueli fortress/Kol (Kuvel) Kalesi
Near Kolköy, Posof, Ardahan Province, Turkey
Location
Q'ueli fortress/Kol (Kuvel) Kalesi
Coordinates41°26′31″N 42°37′26″E / 41.44197°N 42.62386°E / 41.44197; 42.62386

Q'ueli (Georgian: ყუელი) or Q'uelis-tsikhe (ყუელისციხე, "fortress of Q'ueli") was a medieval Georgian fortress atop the homonymous mountain of the Arsiani Range (Yalnızçam Dağları), now within the boundaries of Turkey, where it is known as Kol Kalesi or Kuvel Kalesi. Its Georgian name is alternatively transliterated as Qveli, Kveli, K'veli, Qvelis-ts'ikhe or Qvelis-c'ixe. First appearing in the early 10th-century Georgian sources, Q'ueli was one of the principal fortifications of the province of Samtskhe until being conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century.

The name Q'ueli/Q'uelis-tsikhe literally translates from Georgian as "a cheese fortress", which was a source of the Greek equivalent Tyrokastron (Τυρόχαστρον)—the name by which the fortress is mentioned in Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos's De Administrando Imperio.