Akhaltsikhe
Akhaltsikhe
| Akhaltsikhe ახალციხე |
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 Akhaltsikhe
ახალციხე |
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| Coordinates: 41°38′20″N 42°59′10″E / 41.63889°N 42.98611°E | |
| Country |  Georgia |
| mkhare | Samtskhe-Javakheti |
| Population (2002) | |
| - Total | 46,134 |
| Time zone | Georgian Time (UTC+4) |
Akhaltsikhe (Georgian: ახალციხე, literally new castle; also known as Lomisa) is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region (mkhare) of Samtskhe-Javakheti. It is situated on the both banks of a small river Potskhovi, which separates the city to the old city in the north and new in the south. The name of the city translates from Georgian as "new fortress".
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History
The city is first mentioned in the chronicles in the 12th century. In the 12th - 13th centuries it was the seat of the Akhaltsikhelis, dukes of Samtskhe, whose two most illustrious representatives were Shalva and Ivane Akhaltsikheli (of Akhaltsikhe). From the 13th up to the 17th century the city and Samtkhe were governed by the feudal family of the Jaqelis. In 1576 the Ottomans took it and from 1628 the city became the centre of the Samtskhe Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. In 1828, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, Russian troops under the command of General Paskevich captured the city and, as a consequence of the 1829 Treaty of Adrianople (Edirne), it was ceded to the Russian Empire as part of first Kutaisi and then Tbilisi governorates. In the old part of the city one can see an old fortress, castle and mosque, the old fortress of the Jakelis (13th-14th century), and St. Marine's Church. The hills nearby the city harbour the Sapara Monastery (10th - 14th centuries).
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
According to the 2002 Census, of city's population (46,134) the majority were ethnic Georgians (28473, or 61%), with minority of Armenians (16879, or 37%).
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Akhaltsikhe is twinned with:
People associated with Akhaltsikhe
- Lusine Zakaryan (1937–1997), soprano singer
- Sergo Kobuladze (1909–1978), painter and illustrator
- Grégoire-Pierre Agagianian (1895–1917), cardinal
- Father of Charles Aznavour
- Shalva Maglakelidze, plenipotentiary for the Russian Provisional Government and then for the government of Georgia in Akhaltsikhe (1917–1918)
- Giorgi Mazniashvili, governor general of Akhaltsikhe (1919–1920)
- Vakhtang V of Kartli fled to Ahiska, after a coup faillure
- Vakhtang Tchutchunashvili (?-1668), usurper of Imereti throne, fled to Ahiska after being geposed
- Ahmed-Pasha Khimshiashvili (?-1836), pasha of Ahiska
- Hovhannes Katchaznouni (1868–1938), first prome minister of Democratic Republic of Armenia
- Hakob Kojoyan (1883–1959), artist
- David Baazov, rabbi in Akhaltsikhe (1918)
- Palavandishvili family
See also
- Battle of Akhalzic
- ^ 2002 Georgia Census. State Department of Statistics of Georgia. Retrieved on May 26, 2011
Coordinates: 41°38′20″N 42°59′10″E / 41.63889°N 42.98611°E
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