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Akhaltsikhe ახალციხე
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AkhaltsikheLocation of Akhaltsikhe in GeorgiaShow map of GeorgiaAkhaltsikheAkhaltsikhe (Samtskhe-Javakheti)Show map of Samtskhe-Javakheti
Coordinates: 41°38′20″N 42°59′10″E / 41.63889°N 42.98611°E / 41.63889; 42.98611
Country	Georgia
Region	Samtskhe–Javakheti
Municipality	Akhaltsikhe
Founded	1200
Elevation	1,029 m (3,376 ft)
Population
• Total	17,287
Time zone	UTC+4 (Georgian Time)
Postal code	0800
Website	akhaltsikhe.gov.ge/en

Akhaltsikhe (Georgian: ახალციხე [aχaɫtsʰiχe]), formerly known as Lomsia (Georgian: ლომსია), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region (mkhare) of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and the Samtskhe–Javakheti region. It is situated on both banks of the small river Potskhovi (a left tributary of the Kura), which divides the city between the old city in the north and new in the south.

The 9th-century Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Castle, which was recently restored, is located in the old part of the city. It is one of the main attractions of the Samtskhe–Javakheti region, along with Vardzia, Vale, Okrostsikhe and Zarzma.

Toponymy

Akhaltsikhe is the Georgian name of the town, which literally means "new fortress". It is attested in Arabic sources as Akhiskha (and Akhsikhath), in Persian as Akhesqeh (also spelled as Akheshkheh), and in Turkish sources as Ahıska. The Azerbaijani village of Axısxa is also named after it, due to the population of the village originating from Akhaltsikhe.

History

The town is mentioned among the settlements conquered by general Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri during the reign of Umayyad Caliph Mu'awiya I (661–680). During the Mongol domination of Georgia, local rulers of the House of Jaqeli, who ruled the feudal principality of Samtskhe-Saatabago, were invested with the title of atabeg and were allowed to be autonomous. In contemporaneous Persian and Turkish sources, these Jaqeli rulers were referred to as Ḳurḳūra, which derives from Qvarqvare—the name of several Jaqeli rulers.

In 1579, during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590, the Ottomans took the town. In the ensuing period, the Ottomans implanted Islam and Ottoman customs. In 1625, the town became the centre of the Akhalzik Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire known as Ahıska and it held a resident Ottoman pasha. The town rose to strategic importance and became a leading hub of the Caucasian slave market. By the late 17th century, the town was home to 400 households, consisting of a mixed population of Turks, Armenians, Georgians, Greeks and Jews.

In 1828, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, Russian troops under the command of General Ivan Paskevich captured the city and, as a consequence of the 1829 Treaty of Adrianople, it was ceded to the Russian Empire. The city initially become part of the Kutaisi Governorate, then of the Tiflis Governorate, becoming the administrative centre of the Akhaltsikhe uezd.

In the late 1980s the city was host to the Soviet Army's 10th Guards Motor Rifle Division, which became a brigade of the Georgian land forces after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Population

Climate

Archaeology

The highland environment between Akhaltsikhe and Aspindza presents a varied and complex array of archaeological features in different locations, elevations and topographies. This includes the alluvial flood-plain of the Kura River, all the way to the high grasslands.

Human habitation is attested already in the Early Bronze Age (4th millennium BC) and later. Artifacts from the Roman and medieval periods are also strongly represented in the area.

Amiranis Gora

The important archaeological site of Amiranis Gora is located on the northeastern outskirts of Akhaltsikhe. It was excavated by Tariel Chubinishvili. The earliest carbon date for Amiranis Gora is 3790-3373 cal BC. It was obtained from the charcoal of the metallurgical workshop which belonged to the earliest building horizon of Amiranis Gora This indicates a division of metallurgical production into extractive and processing branches.

Amiranis Gora is an important reference point for the study of the Early Bronze Age Kura–Araxes culture, also known as the Early Transcaucasian Culture. The many references include the architecture, burial practices, material culture and metallurgy. Amiranis Gora is one of the best sites with fixed stratigraphy of the Kura-Araxes culture. The carbon date for the Kura-Araxes material at Amiranis Gora is 3630-3048 cal B.C., which is very early.

People associated with Akhaltsikhe

• Gregorio Pietro Agagianian (1895–1971), Patriarch of Cilicia and the Armenian Catholic Church, Cardinal, and first Eastern Catholic papabile since Cardinal Bessarion during the Renaissance
• Charles Aznavour, world-famous French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent (father, Michael Aznavourian, was born in Akhaltsikhe)
• David Baazov, rabbi at Akhaltsikhe (1918)
• Shio Batmanishvili, hieromonk of the Servites of the Immaculate Conception, first Exarch of the Georgian Greek Catholic Church, and survivor of Solovki prison camp. Martyred by the NKVD during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge and buried in the mass grave at Sandarmokh in the Republic of Karelia.
• Hovhannes Kajaznuni (1868–1938), first prime minister of the First Republic of Armenia
• Ahmed-Pasha Khimshiashvili (?–1836), Pasha of Ahiska
• Sergo Kobuladze (1909–1978), painter and illustrator
• Hakob Kojoyan (1883–1959), Soviet Armenian artist
• Shalva Maglakelidze, plenipotentiary for the Russian Provisional Government and then for the government of Georgia in Akhaltsikhe (1917–1918)
• Stepan Malkhasyants, Armenian academician
• Hakob Manandian, Armenian historian
• Palavandishvili family
• Giorgi Mazniashvili, governor general of Akhaltsikhe (1919–1920)
• Natela Svanidze, Georgian composer
• Michel Tamarati (1858–1911), Georgian Catholic priest and historian
• Vakhtang Tchutchunashvili (?–1668), usurper of the throne of Imereti, fled to Ahiska after being deposed
• Vakhtang V, King of Kartli, fled to Ahiska after a failed coup
• Lusine Zakaryan (1937–1991), Soviet Armenian soprano singer

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Akhaltsikhe is twinned with:

• Ardahan, Turkey

See also

• Battle of Akhaltsikhe
• Samtskhe–Javakheti

References

1. "Population by regions". National Statistics Office of Georgia. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
2. ^ Minorsky, V. (1960). "Ak̲h̲isk̲h̲a". In Gibb, H. A. R.; Kramers, J. H.; Lévi-Provençal, E.; Schacht, J.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume I: A–B. Leiden: E. J. Brill. OCLC 495469456.
3. Floor, Willem M. (2008). Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration, by Mirza Naqi Nasiri. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers. p. 140. ISBN 978-1933823232.
4. Sanjian, Avetis K. (2013), Sanjian, Avedis K. (ed.), Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts, 1301-1480: A Source for Middle Eastern History, Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies, vol. 2, Harvard University Press, p. 395, doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674432635, ISBN 978-0-674-43263-5
5. Azərbaycan Toponimlərinin Ensiklopedik Lüğəti [Encyclopedic Dictionary of Azerbaijani Toponyms] (PDF) (in Azerbaijani). Vol. 1. Sharg-Garb Publishing and Printing House. 2007. p. 34. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-30. Axısxa: Sabirabad r-nunun eyniadlı i.ə.v.-də kənd. Kür çayının sol sahilində, şirvan düzündədir. 1944-cü ildə Gürcüstanın Axısxa r-nundan Qazaxıstana və Orta Asiyaya sürgün edilmiş, 60-cı illərdə isə Azərbaycana köçmüş türk ailələri tərəfindən salınmış yaşayış məntəqəsi onların köhnə məskənlərinin adı ilə adlandırılmışdır. Mənbələrdə axısxa/axsıxa Axalsix qalasının adı, Axal isə təkə-türkmənlərin yaşadığı yer kimi izah olunur.
6. Chardin, John; Pitt, Moses; Loggan, David (1686). The travels of Sir John Chardin into Persia and the East Indies : the first volume, containing the author's voyage from Paris to Ispahan : to which is added, the coronation of this present king of Persia, Solyman the Third. Getty Research Institute. London : Printed for Moses Pitt in Duke-Street Westminster. p. 168.
7. "население грузии". Retrieved October 8, 2016.
8. "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
9. "АХАЛЦИХСКИЙ УЕЗД (1897 г.)". Retrieved October 8, 2016.
10. Кавказский календарь на 1917 год [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. pp. 206–213. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
11. "Ахалцихский уезд 1926". www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru.
12. "Ахалцихский район 1959". www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru.
13. "Ethnic composition: 1979 census". pop-stat.mashke.org. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
14. "Ethnic composition, all places: 2014 census". pop-stat.mashke.org. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020.
15. "Georgia: Regions, Major Cities & Urban Settlements - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
16. "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020: Akhaltsikhe-37514" (CSV). National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
17. "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1981–2010". National Centers for Environmental Information. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
18. Kakhiani, Kakha; Sagona, Antonio; Sagona, Claudia; Kvavadze, Eliso; Bedianashvili, Giorgi; Massager, Erwan; Martin, Lucie; Herrscher, Estelle; Martkoplishvili, Inga; Birkett-Rees, Jessie; Longford, Catherine (2013). "Archaeological Investigations at Chobareti in Southern Georgia, the Caucasus". Ancient Near Eastern Studies. 50: 1–138. doi:10.2143/ANES.50.0.2975510. ISSN 1378-4641.
19. Chubinishvili, T. N. Amiranis Gora: masalebi Mesxetʻ-Javaxetʻis użvelesi istoriisatʻvis ამირანის გორა: მასალები მესხეთ-ჯავახეთის უძველესი ისტორიისთვის [Amiranis Gora: Materials on the Ancient History of Meskhet-Javakheti] (in Georgian). Tbilisi: Sabchota Saqartvelo. OCLC 21445209.
20. Kushnareva, K. Kh.; Chubinishvili, T. N. (1970). Drevnie kulʹtury I︠U︡zhnogo Kavkaza: (V-III tys. do n.ė.) Древние культуры Южного Кавказа (V-III тыс. до н.э.) [Ancient Cultures of Southern Caucasus (5th-3rd millennia BCE)] (in Russian). Leningrad: Nauka. p. 114, fig. 5.1. OCLC 3011868.
21. ^ Kavtaradze, Giorgi Leon (1999). "The importance of metallurgical data for the formation of a Central Transcaucasian chronology". In Hauptmann, Andreas (ed.). The Beginnings of Metallurgy: Proceedings of the International Conference "The Beginnings of Metallurgy", Bochum, 1995. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum. ISBN 9783921533635.
22. Palumbi, G. (2008). The Red and Black: Social and Cultural Interaction between the Upper Euphrates and Southem Caucasus Communities in the Fourth and Third Millennium BC. Studi di Preistoria Orientale 2. Università di Roma "Sapienza". ISBN 9788890424007.
23. Kiguradze, Tamaz; Sagona, Antonio (2003). "On the Origins of the Kura-Araxes Cultural Complex". In Smith, Adam T.; Rubinson, Karen Sydney (eds.). Archaeology in the Borderlands: Investigations in Caucasia and Beyond. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. pp. 38–94. ISBN 978-1-931745-01-7.
24. Burney, Charles; Lang, David Marshall (1971). The People of the Hills, Ancient Ararat and Caucasus. New York: Praeger.
25. "About Ardahan". Website Ardahan (in Turkmen). Retrieved 2022-03-02.

v t e Cities, towns and townlets in Georgia
Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia	Sukhumi Akhali Atoni Gagra Gali Gudauta Ochamchire Tkvarcheli Bichvinta Gantiadi Gulripshi Leselidze Miusera
Autonomous Republic of Adjara	Batumi Kobuleti Chakvi Keda Khulo Ochkhamuri Shuakhevi
Guria	Ozurgeti Lanchkhuti Chokhatauri Bakhmaro Gomismta Laituri Naruja Kveda Nasakirali Ureki
Imereti	Kutaisi Baghdati Chiatura Khoni Sachkhere Samtredia Terjola Tkibuli Tsqaltubo Vani Zestaponi Kharagauli
Kakheti	Telavi Akhmeta Dedoplistsqaro Gurjaani Kvareli Lagodekhi Sagarejo Sighnaghi Tsnori
Mtskheta-Mtianeti	Mtskheta Dusheti Akhalgori Pasanauri Sioni Stepantsminda Tianeti Tsinagari Zhinvali
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti	Zugdidi Abasha Jvari Khobi Martvili Poti Senaki Tsalenjikha Chkhorotsqu Mestia
Samtskhe-Javakheti	Akhaltsikhe Akhalkalaki Borjomi Ninotsminda Vale Abastumani Adigeni Aspindza Bakuriani Tsagveri
Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti	Ambrolauri Oni Tsageri Lentekhi Kvaisa
Kvemo Kartli	Rustavi Bolnisi Gardabani Dmanisi Tetritsqaro Marneuli Tsalka Bediani Kazreti Khramhesi Manglisi Tamarisi Trialeti
Shida Kartli	Gori Kaspi Kareli Tskhinvali Khashuri Agara Java Surami Kornisi
Cities with local government	Tbilisi Batumi Kutaisi Poti Rustavi
Capital city	Tbilisi

• Cities and towns in Samtskhe–Javakheti
• Tiflis Governorate
• Kura-Araxes culture