AXALKALAKI

The city is located between two small rivers of the Kura basin, which merge just north of the city, 74 km southeast of the Akhaltsikhe railway station. The landscape can be described as a plateau.

The name Akhalkalaki comes from the cargo. akhal - "new" and kalaki - "city". The XVIII century traveler Anton Guldenshtedt also found another version of the name of the city of Akhalkalaki - Akhalkatak or Nor-kahak - from the Armenian. nor - "new" and qahak - "city".

The first information about the settlement on the site of Akhalkalaki dates back to 1064. During these years it was the center of the political life of the Javakheti region. Akhalkalaki was completely destroyed in the 15th century and restored in the next two centuries. In the 16th century, the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks.

In 1828, the troops of General Paskevich occupied Akhalkalaki and the following year the city was annexed to Russia. According to the Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, the Muslim Georgians who lived in this territory were exiled to the hinterland of Turkey, and Armenians from the Arzrum Vilayet settled in the city instead.

The devastating earthquake on January 4, 1900 caused great damage to historical buildings and claimed the lives of about a thousand residents of Akhalkalak and its environs.