Kakheti

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(Redirected from Kakheti Province, Ottoman Empire)

Kakheti Region კახეთის მხარე Kakhetis Mkhare

Map highlighting the modern political subdivision

Capital	Telavi
Region ISO 3166 code	GE-KA
Districts	8
Area	11,310 km²
Population	407,000 (2002)


Map highlighting the historical region of Kakheti in Georgia

Kakheti (Georgian: კახეთი) is a province in Eastern Georgia. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and mountain-range of Greater Caucasus to the north, Azerbaijan to the east and the south, and the Georgian province of Kartli to the west. Kakheti is geographically divided into the Inner Kakheti to the east of Tsiv-Gombori mountain-range and the Outer Kakheti to the west of it. The major river of the eastern part is Alazani, of the western part - Iori. Kakhetians speak a local dialect of Georgian.

The Georgian David Gareja monastery complex is partially located in this province and is subject to a border dispute between Georgian and Azerbaijani authorities.^[1]

[edit] Geography

Alazani Valley, Kakheti

Beyond the modern-day administrative subdivision into the districts, Kakheti has traditionally being subdivided into four parts: Inner Kakheti (შიგნით კახეთი, Shignit Kakheti) along the right bank of the Alazani River, Outer Kakheti (გარე კახეთი, Gare Kakheti) along the middle Iori River basin, Qiziki (ქიზიყი) between the Alazani and the Iori, and Thither Area (გაღმა მხარი, Gaghma Mkhari) on the left bank of the Alazani. It also includes the medieval region of Hereti whose name fell into gradual oblivion since the 15th century.

[edit] History

Kakheti was an independent feudal principality from the end of the eighth century. It was incorporated into the united Georgian Kingdom at the beginning of the eleventh century, but for less than a decade. Only in the beginning of the twelfth century did Georgian King David the Builder (1089–1125)

The Alazani River Plain, with the Caucasus Mountains in the background

incorporate Kakheti to his Kingdom successfully. After the disintegration of the Georgian Kingdom, Kakheti became an independent Kingdom in the 1460s. In 1762, the Kakhetian Kingdom was united with the neighboring Georgian Kingdom of Kartli, with the capital of the former, Telavi, becoming the capital of the united Eastern-Georgian Kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti. Both Kingdoms were weakened by frequent Persian invasions. In 1801 the Kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti was annexed to the Tsarist Russian Empire.

In 1918–1921 Kakheti was part of independent Democratic Republic of Georgia, in 1922–1936 part of Transcaucasian SFSR and in 1936–1991 part of Georgian SSR. Since the Georgian independence in 1991, Kakheti is a region in the Republic of Georgia and Telavi is still its capital.

[edit] Travel Information

The travel infrastructure in Kakheti is fast developing since it is the most visited region of Georgia. One can choose to stay in a guest house, in a small and comfortable hotel, or a beautiful boutique style hotel, while traveling in this Region. Telavi and Signagi are the most visited towns. Signagi has been renovated three years ago. Until recently there were only some family hotels (simple rooms in a family owned house with the shared bathroom), but now Signagi features couple of hotels, one of them being most popular due to its interior and restaurant - "Hotel Pirosmani", named after the famous Georgian artist.

"Rcheuli Marani" is located in Telavi and belongs to the same hotel chain. It also features the Georgian restaurant in its ancient wine cellar.