title: Ancient City Zalissa (1st–4th centuries), Confrontation of Empires and Christianization of Iberia
abstract: In the present article we discuss one of the key and final episodes of the military confrontation between the Byzantine Empire and Sassanid Iran which took place in the Lazica Kingdom, in particular, liberation in 551 by the Byzantines of the last foothold -the Petra fortress. This is examined on the basis of analysis of material obtained as a result of archaeological excavations in Petra-Tsikhisdziri (south western Georgia) carried out at different times and mostly in 2016-2020. Recent archaeol