Akhaltsikhe

{{more citations needed|date=December 2009}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Akhaltsikhe | native_name = {{lang|ka|ახალციხე}} | image_skyline = {{Photomontage|position=center|photo1a = Akhaltsike, view from Rabati.jpg|photo2a = Rabati, Akhaltsikhe, Georgia.jpg|photo3a = Rabati Castle in Akhaltsikhe, view from the city.jpg|size = 280|spacing = 2|border = 0}} | image_flag = Flag_of_Akhaltsikhe_Municipality.svg | image_seal = COA_of_Akhaltsikhe.svg | pushpin_map = Georgia (country)#Samtskhe-Javakheti | mapsize = 280 | map_caption = Location of Akhaltsikhe in Georgia | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{GEO}} | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = Samtskhe–Javakheti | subdivision_type2 = Municipality | subdivision_name2 = Akhaltsikhe | established_title = Founded | established_date = 1200 | population_as_of = 2024 | population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://geostat.ge/media/61960/1-3-population-by-cities-and-boroughs.xlsx |title=Population by regions |publisher=National Statistics Office of Georgia |access-date=28 April 2024 }}</ref> | population_total = 17287 | timezone = Georgian Time | utc_offset = +4 | coordinates = {{coord|41|38|20|N|42|59|10|E|region:GE|display=inline,title}} | elevation_m = 1029 | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 0800 | website = {{URL|https://akhaltsikhe.gov.ge/en}} }} '''Akhaltsikhe''' ({{lang-ka|ახალციხე}} {{IPA|ka|äχäɫt̪͡s̪ʰiχe̞||}}), formerly known as '''Lomsia''' ({{lang-ka|ლომსია}} {{IPA|ka|ɫo̞ms̪iä|}}), is a city in Georgia's southwestern region ({{Transliteration|ka|mkhare}}) of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and the Samtskhe–Javakheti region. In 2024, by census reports, the city has a population of 17,287 people.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Circle |title=საქართველოს სტატისტიკის ეროვნული სამსახური |url=https://www.geostat.ge/ka |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=www.geostat.ge |language=ka}}</ref> The city lies at an elevation of approximately 1,000 meters (3,280 ft) in the Akhaltsikhe Basin. 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 Georgian translation of Akhaltsikhe is "new fortress"; this is significant of the city's historical use and background as a fortified settlement, as well as existing as strategic stronghold in a heavily contested region of the Caucasus.

Starting from the 13th century, the city served as the seat for the House of Jaqeli ruling dynasty of Georgia as well as the capital of the Samtskhe-Saatabago principality.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Rayfield |first=Donald |title=Edge of empires: a history of Georgia |date=2012 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-78023-030-6 |location=London}}</ref> The Ottomans captured the city during the Ottoman-Safavid War in the 16th century and maintained authority over the city for nearly 250 years.<ref name="EI2" /> In 1828, Russian forces captured and later ceded the city to the city to the Russian Empire via the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Suny |first=Ronald Grigor |title=The making of the Georgian nation |date=1994 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-35579-9 |edition=2nd |location=Bloomington}}</ref>

The 9th-century Akhaltsikhe Castle (Rabati), which was recently restored, is located in the old part of the city. The castle represents the city's multicultural history, as it consists of an Orthodox church, a mosque, and a madrasa within its single walled enclosure. It was restored from 2011-2012 and remains as one of the main heritage sights of the region, alongside Vardzia, Khertvisi, 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 {{transliteration|ar|Akhiskha}} (and {{transliteration|ar|Akhsikhath}}), in Persian as {{transliteration|fa|Akhesqeh}} (also spelled as {{transliteration|fa|Akheshkheh}}), and in Turkish sources as {{transliteration|ota|Ahıska}}.<ref name="EI2">{{EI2|last=Minorsky|first=V.|authorlink=Vladimir Minorsky|title=Ak̲h̲isk̲h̲a|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/akhiskha-SIM_0470?s.num=67&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.start=60&s.q=ottoman+persian|volume=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Floor|first1=Willem M.|authorlink=Willem Floor|title=Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration, by Mirza Naqi Nasiri|date=2008|publisher=Mage Publishers|location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1933823232|page=140}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Sanjian |first=Avetis K. |editor-first1=Avedis K. |editor-last1=Sanjian |title=Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts, 1301-1480: A Source for Middle Eastern History |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/harvard.9780674432635/html |volume=2 |page=395 |year=2013 |access-date= |series=Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies |publisher=Harvard University Press |language=en |doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674432635 |isbn=978-0-674-43263-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Azerbaijani village of Axısxa is also named after it, due to the population of the village originating from Akhaltsikhe.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.lib.az/users/1/upload/files/Azerbaycan_toponimlerinin_ensiklopedik_lugeti.pdf |title=Azərbaycan Toponimlərinin Ensiklopedik Lüğəti |publisher=Sharg-Garb Publishing and Printing House |year=2007 |volume=1 |page=34 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330070622/https://www.lib.az/users/1/upload/files/Azerbaycan_toponimlerinin_ensiklopedik_lugeti.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-30 |language=az |trans-title=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Azerbaijani Toponyms |quote=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.}}</ref>

Before the 12th century, the settlement was known as Lomsia which had been preserved into the medieval period by the Armenians and Persians.<ref name="EI2" /> The transition of the city's name to Akhaltsikhe is associated with the construction of a new citadel under the ruling House of Jaqeli, which had served as the ruling dynasty in the 13th century.<ref name=":2" /> The Turkish variation of the city's name, Ahiska, remains relevant and used by Meskhetian Turk communities and in Turkey, as they use the name to refer to their historical homeland from which they experienced mass deportations by Soviet authorities in November 1944.

==History== thumb|left|Akhaltsikhe c. 1887 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 {{transliteration|ka|Qvarqvare}}—the name of several Jaqeli rulers.<ref name="EI2"/>

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 {{transliteration|ota|Ahıska}} and it held a resident Ottoman pasha. The town rose to strategic importance and became a leading hub of the Caucasian slave market.<ref name="EI2"/> By the late 17th century, the town was home to 400 households, consisting of a mixed population of Turks, Armenians, Georgians, Greeks and Jews.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chardin |first1=John |url=http://archive.org/details/travelsofsirjohn00char |title=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 |last2=Pitt |first2=Moses |last3=Loggan |first3=David |date=1686 |publisher=London : Printed for Moses Pitt in Duke-Street Westminster |others=Getty Research Institute |pages=168}}</ref>

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.<ref name="EI2"/>

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.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

==Population== {| style="text-align:center; font-size:85%; border:1px solid black; background:#fafafa" |+ {{big|'''Population and ethnic composition of Akhaltsikhe from the late 19th century'''}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/rngeorgia.html|title=население грузии|access-date=October 8, 2016}}</ref> |- ! scope="col" style="width:70px;" | Year ! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:110px;" | Georgians ! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:115px;" | Armenians ! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:100px;" | Russians ! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:90px;" | Jews ! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:90px;" | Others ! scope="col" style="width:70" | Total |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1886 | 2,733 | 17% | 10,417 | 64.6% | 146 | 0.9% | 2,545 | 15.8% | 275 | 1.7% | '''16,116''' |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1897<ref>{{cite web|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/emp_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=451 |title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |access-date=October 8, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818113307/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/emp_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=451 |archive-date=August 18, 2016 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/axalcixe1897.html|title=АХАЛЦИХСКИЙ УЕЗД (1897 г.)|access-date=October 8, 2016}}</ref> | 3,578 | 23.3% | 9,035 | 58.8% | 1,172 | 7.3% | 438 | 2.9% | 1,134 | 3.4% | '''15,357''' |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1916<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.prlib.ru/item/417322 |title=Кавказский календарь на 1917 год |publisher=Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom |year=1917 |edition=72nd |publication-place=Tiflis |pages=206–213 |language=Russian |trans-title=Caucasian calendar for 1917 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104233151/https://www.prlib.ru/item/417322 |archive-date=4 November 2021}}</ref> |2,783 |10.9% |18,165 |71.3% |716 |2.8% |3,246 |12.7% |560 |2.2% |'''25,470''' |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1926<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/axalcixe26.html|title=Ахалцихский уезд 1926|website=www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru}}</ref> | 1,817 | 14.8% | 6,516 | 52.9% | 1,425 | 11.6% | 94 | 0.8% | 2,458 |20.0% ! 12,310 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1959<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/axalcixe59.html|title=Ахалцихский район 1959|website=www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru}}</ref> | 6,801 | 25.7% | 14,341 | 54.1% | 3,509 | 13.2% | 368 | 1.4% | 1,478 |5.6% | '''26,497''' |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1979<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethnic composition: 1979 census |url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic1979.htm |website=pop-stat.mashke.org |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201220093322/http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic1979.htm |archive-date=20 December 2020 |access-date=20 December 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> | 5,714 | 29.2% | 10,278 | 52.5% | 2,208 | 11.3% | 337 | 1.7% | 1,050 | 5.4% | '''19,587''' |-

| style="text-align:left;" | 1989 | | | | | | | | | | ! 24,570 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2014<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethnic composition, all places: 2014 census |url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic-loc2014.htm |website=pop-stat.mashke.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220100552/http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic-loc2014.htm |archive-date=20 December 2020}}</ref> | 12,838 | 71.7% | 4,781 | 26.7% | 75 | 0.4% | 11 | 0.06% | 198 | 1.1% ! 17,903 |- | style="text-align:left;" |2023<ref>{{Cite web |title=Georgia: Regions, Major Cities & Urban Settlements - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/georgia/cities/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=www.citypopulation.de}}</ref> | | | | | | | | | | |'''16,943''' |} In 1828, the Russian acquisition of Akhaltsikhe introduced roughly 7,000 Armenian families into the economy of Russian Transcaucasia; this contributed to the majority Armenian population that lasted in the city until the late 20th century.<ref name=":2" />

== Jewish Community == There are two synagogues in Akhaltsikhe's historic Jewish quarters; one is still in use, while the other is no longer operational.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meskhishvili |first=Tsira |date=2021 |title=For the Date of Establishment of Akhaltsikhe Synagogue |url=http://www.sciencejournals.ge/index.php/HAE/article/view/127 |journal=History, Archaeology, Ethnology |publisher=Gori State Teaching University |issue=V}}</ref>

==Climate== 290px|thumb|View of Akhaltsikhe

{{Weather box |location = Akhaltsikhe (1991–2020, extremes 1981-2020) |metric first = y |single line = y |width = auto |Jan record high C = 14.5 |Feb record high C = 20.0 |Mar record high C = 26.0 |Apr record high C = 30.9 |May record high C = 32.9 |Jun record high C = 36.6 |Jul record high C = 40.5 |Aug record high C = 40.0 |Sep record high C = 37.0 |Oct record high C = 35.1 |Nov record high C = 26.0 |Dec record high C = 17.5 |year record high C = 40.5 |Jan high C = 3.6 |Feb high C = 6.0 |Mar high C = 11.8 |Apr high C = 17.6 |May high C = 22.3 |Jun high C = 26.1 |Jul high C = 29.5 |Aug high C = 30.3 |Sep high C = 25.6 |Oct high C = 19.1 |Nov high C = 11.2 |Dec high C = 5.1 |year high C = 17.4 |Jan mean C = -2.6 |Feb mean C = -0.9 |Mar mean C = 4.0 |Apr mean C = 9.1 |May mean C = 13.9 |Jun mean C = 17.7 |Jul mean C = 21.0 |Aug mean C = 21.1 |Sep mean C = 16.6 |Oct mean C = 10.8 |Nov mean C = 3.9 |Dec mean C = -1.0 |year mean C = 9.5 |Jan low C = -6.9 |Feb low C = -5.8 |Mar low C = -1.8 |Apr low C = 2.5 |May low C = 7.4 |Jun low C = 11.3 |Jul low C = 14.4 |Aug low C = 14.1 |Sep low C = 9.6 |Oct low C = 4.7 |Nov low C = -1.1 |Dec low C = -5.2 |year low C = 3.6 |Jan record low C = -25.5 |Feb record low C = -22.2 |Mar record low C = -21.4 |Apr record low C = -14.1 |May record low C = -2.8 |Jun record low C = -0.4 |Jul record low C = 4.1 |Aug record low C = 1.5 |Sep record low C = -1.5 |Oct record low C = -7.5 |Nov record low C = -19.5 |Dec record low C = -24.3 |year record low C = -25.5 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 22.3 |Feb precipitation mm = 24.5 |Mar precipitation mm = 36.5 |Apr precipitation mm = 48.6 |May precipitation mm = 75.5 |Jun precipitation mm = 75.1 |Jul precipitation mm = 58.4 |Aug precipitation mm = 51.5 |Sep precipitation mm = 39.9 |Oct precipitation mm = 41.9 |Nov precipitation mm = 31.1 |Dec precipitation mm = 25.2 | unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days =5.1 | Feb precipitation days =5.5 | Mar precipitation days =6.8 | Apr precipitation days =8.6 | May precipitation days =12.4 | Jun precipitation days =11 | Jul precipitation days =8.1 | Aug precipitation days =7.8 | Sep precipitation days =6.5 | Oct precipitation days =7.3 | Nov precipitation days =5.4 | Dec precipitation days =5.6

|source 1 = NOAA<ref name="NCEI"> {{cite web |url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Georgia/CSV/Akhaltsikhe_37514.csv |format=CSV | title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020: Akhaltsikhe-37514 | publisher = National Centers for Environmental Information | access-date = 16 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="WMOClino81"> {{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211009215740/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1981-2010/RA-VI/Georgia/WMO_Normals_Georgia.xls | archive-date = 9 October 2021 | url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1981-2010/RA-VI/Georgia/WMO_Normals_Georgia.xls | title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1981–2010 | publisher = National Centers for Environmental Information | access-date = 9 October 2021}}</ref> }}

==Archaeology== 290px|thumb|Streets of Akhaltsikhe 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.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

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.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Amiranis Gora=== The important archaeological site of Amiranis Gora is located on the northeastern outskirts of Akhaltsikhe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kakhiani |first1=Kakha |last2=Sagona |first2=Antonio |last3=Sagona |first3=Claudia |last4=Kvavadze |first4=Eliso |last5=Bedianashvili |first5=Giorgi |last6=Massager |first6=Erwan |last7=Martin |first7=Lucie |last8=Herrscher |first8=Estelle |last9=Martkoplishvili |first9=Inga |last10=Birkett-Rees |first10=Jessie |last11=Longford |first11=Catherine |date=2013 |title=Archaeological Investigations at Chobareti in Southern Georgia, the Caucasus |url=https://doi.org/10.2143/ANES.50.0.2975510 |journal=Ancient Near Eastern Studies |volume=50 |issue= |pages=1–138 |doi=10.2143/ANES.50.0.2975510 |issn=1378-4641}}</ref> It was excavated by Tariel Chubinishvili.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chubinishvili |first=T. N. |title=Amiranis Gora: masalebi Mesxetʻ-Javaxetʻis użvelesi istoriisatʻvis |publisher=Sabchota Saqartvelo |location=Tbilisi |language=ka |script-title=ka:ამირანის გორა: მასალები მესხეთ-ჯავახეთის უძველესი ისტორიისთვის |trans-title=Amiranis Gora: Materials on the Ancient History of Meskhet-Javakheti |oclc=21445209}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kushnareva |first1=K. Kh. |title=Drevnie kulʹtury I︠U︡zhnogo Kavkaza: (V-III tys. do n.ė.) |last2=Chubinishvili |first2=T. N. |publisher=Nauka |year=1970 |location=Leningrad |at=p. 114, fig. 5.1 |language=ru |script-title=ru:Древние культуры Южного Кавказа (V-III тыс. до н.э.) |trans-title=Ancient Cultures of Southern Caucasus (5th-3rd millennia BCE) |oclc=3011868}}</ref> This indicates a division of metallurgical production into extractive and processing branches.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Kavtaradze |first=Giorgi Leon |url=https://www.geocities.ws/komblege/ansch1.htm |title=The Beginnings of Metallurgy: Proceedings of the International Conference "The Beginnings of Metallurgy", Bochum, 1995 |publisher=Deutsches Bergbau-Museum |year=1999 |isbn=9783921533635 |editor-last=Hauptmann |editor-first=Andreas |location=Bochum |chapter=The importance of metallurgical data for the formation of a Central Transcaucasian chronology}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Palumbi |first=G. |title=The Red and Black: Social and Cultural Interaction between the Upper Euphrates and Southem Caucasus Communities in the Fourth and Third Millennium BC |publisher=Università di Roma "Sapienza" |year=2008 |isbn=9788890424007 |series=Studi di Preistoria Orientale 2 |volume=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kiguradze |first1=Tamaz |title=Archaeology in the Borderlands: Investigations in Caucasia and Beyond |last2=Sagona |first2=Antonio |publisher=Cotsen Institute of Archaeology |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-931745-01-7 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Adam T. |pages=38–94 |chapter=On the Origins of the Kura-Araxes Cultural Complex |editor-last2=Rubinson |editor-first2=Karen Sydney |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/3131921}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Burney |first1=Charles |title=The People of the Hills, Ancient Ararat and Caucasus |last2=Lang |first2=David Marshall |publisher=Praeger |year=1971 |isbn= |location=New York}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" />

==People associated with Akhaltsikhe== *Sidi Hassan (?-1798) Dey of Algiers *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== {{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Georgia (country)}}

===Twin towns and sister cities=== Akhaltsikhe is twinned with: *{{flagicon|TUR}} Ardahan, Turkey<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.ardahan.bel.tr/ardahan-hakkinda | title=About Ardahan | accessdate=2022-03-02 | work=Website Ardahan| language=tk }}</ref>

==Notable people== *Artur Grigoryan, Russian-Armenian former football player *Aida Babajanyan, Armenian-Georgian actress and dancer *Hovhannes Kajaznuni, Armenian politician, First Prime Minister of Armenia *Karp Khachvankyan, Armenian actor and director, People's Artist of Armenia (1967)

==References== {{Reflist}}<ref name=":1" />{{Wikivoyage}} {{EB1911 poster|Akhaltsikh}} {{commons category}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Cities and towns in Samtskhe–Javakheti Category:Tiflis Governorate Category:Kura-Araxes culture Category:Akhaltsikhe