Ertso-Tianeti is a small historical-geographic area in eastern Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

. It lies along the upper Iori Valley in what is now Tianeti

Tianeti

Tianeti is a town in east-central Georgia, in the Caucasus Mountains. It is located at around .Tianeti is situated in the North-Eastern part of Georgia . According to the 2002 State Census, its population was 3598 people...

 District in the region

Mkhare

Mkhare is a subdivision in the country of Georgia. It is usually translated as region.The country is divided, according to the Presidential decrees from 1994 to 1996, into regions on a provisional basis until the secessionist conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia are resolved...

 of Mtskheta-Mtianeti

Mtskheta-Mtianeti

Mtskheta-Mtianeti is a region in eastern Georgia comprising the town of Mtskheta, which serves as a regional capital, together with its district and the adjoining mountainous areas.- External links :...

. The area's name is compound, consisting of its two subdivisions: Ertso (ერწო) and Tianeti (თიანეთი).

Ertso-Tianeti is located on the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus

Greater Caucasus

Greater Caucasus , sometimes translated as "Caucasus Major", "Big Caucasus" or "Large Caucasus") is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains....

 mountains. Its historical borders are: Pshavi

Pshavi

Pshavi is a small historic-geographic area in Georgia, included in today’s Mtskheta-Mtianeti region and laying chiefly on the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus mountains along Aragvi River and the lower Iori River. The Pshavs, who are locally called the Pshaveli, speak a Georgian dialect...

 to the north, Kakheti

Kakheti

Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...

 to the south and east, and the Aragvi River

Aragvi River

The Aragvi River and its basin is located in Georgia on the southern slope of the Caucasus Mountains. The river is 112 km in length. The basin covers an area 2,724 km² The ground strata is mostly sandstone, slate, and limestone. The hydro-electricity dam built on the river produces much of...

 on the west. Ertso-Tianeti is first mentioned in the 11th accounts relating the early 330s story of conversion of Georgia (Iberia

Caucasian Iberia

Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...

) into Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. In 1614, the area was virtually depopulated as a result of the Persian invasion of the kingdom of Kakheti

Kingdom of Kakheti

The Kingdom of Kakheti was a late medieval/early modern monarchy in eastern Georgia, centered at the province of Kakheti, with its capital first at Gremi and then at Telavi...

of which Ertso-Tianeti was part. The vacated villages were later resettled by the migrants from the neighboring mountainous districts of Georgia.