The Tsikhisdziri site is identified by the mainstream scholarly opinion with the Roman city–fortress of Petra, founded at the behest of the emperor Justinian I in 535 and, after a series of battles for the possession of that city during the Lazic War with Sasanid Iran, demolished by the Romans themselves to prevent it again becoming the enemy's target in 551. Later, the locale continued to be home to a stronghold of some importance, namely, the Devils' Fortress, "ts'ikhe k'ajet'isa", mentioned by the Georgian scholar Prince Vakhushti in his 1745 geography as situated near the small town of Kobuleti, on "the edge of the sea...strong, built on a high cliff, possessing a rocky tunnel, curved as a road".