Tsageri
Encyclopedia
Tsageri is a town in Georgia
, located in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti
region
in the west of the country and serving as an administrative center of the homonymous district.
Tsageri is located at 475 m above sea level, on the right bank of the Tskhenis-Tsqali, an affluent of the Rioni river
. As of the 2002 census, the town had a population of approximately 1,900, mostly Georgians
.
as "the cupola church of Tsageri, superbly built." The original three-nave basilica design was significantly altered by the cathedral's late 19th-century restorers; the original wall paintings, including the portraits of Queen Tamar and her son George IV
, were also lost in the process.
Under the Russian Empire
and early Soviet
government, Tsageri functioned as an administrative center of the Lechkhumi
uyezd
. It acquired the status of a town in 1968.
in Tsageri. A local museum exhibits several thousands of archaeological artifacts unearthed in Lower Svaneti
and Lechkhumi.
In the vicinity of Tsageri, there are the ruins of the medieval fortress of Muris-Tsikhe which might have been the place of exile and death of the Christian theologian Maximus the Confessor
(c. 580 – 662). There still exits a monastery dedicated to St. Maximus. The nearby located Khvamli caves, according to the medieval records, preserves the treasury of the kings of Georgia. It has been listed among the national monuments of Georgia and has recently attracted a renewed interest from scholars.
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...
, located in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti
Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti
Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti is a region in northwestern Georgia which includes the historical provinces of Racha, Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti . It covers an area of 4,954 km² and has a population of 50,969 . It is the most sparsely populated region in the country...
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...
in the west of the country and serving as an administrative center of the homonymous district.
Tsageri is located at 475 m above sea level, on the right bank of the Tskhenis-Tsqali, an affluent of the Rioni river
Rioni River
The Rioni or Rion River is the main river of western Georgia. It originates in the Caucasus Mountains, in the region of Racha and flows west to the Black Sea, entering it north of the city of Poti...
. As of the 2002 census, the town had a population of approximately 1,900, mostly Georgians
Georgians
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
.
History
In medieval Georgia, Tsageri was an episcopal see, with a cathedral described by the early 18th-century geographer VakhushtiVakhushti
Vakhushti was a Georgian prince , geographer, historian and cartographer.- Life :A son of King Vakhtang VI of Kartli , he was born in Tbilisi, 1696...
as "the cupola church of Tsageri, superbly built." The original three-nave basilica design was significantly altered by the cathedral's late 19th-century restorers; the original wall paintings, including the portraits of Queen Tamar and her son George IV
George IV of Georgia
George IV Lasha of the Bagrationi Dynasty, was a king of Georgia from 1213 to 1223....
, were also lost in the process.
Under the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and early Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
government, Tsageri functioned as an administrative center of the Lechkhumi
Lechkhumi
Lechkhumi is a historic province in northwestern Georgia which comprises the area along the middle basin of the Rioni and Tskhenistskali and also the Lajanuri river valley. Now part of the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region, it corresponds roughly to the present day Tsageri district as well...
uyezd
Uyezd
Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...
. It acquired the status of a town in 1968.
Culture and religion
There is the residence of the Georgian Orthodox bishop of Tsageri and LentekhiLentekhi
Lentekhi is a small town and Lentekhi District's capital in Georgia's western region of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, 323 km northwest to the nation's capital Tbilisi. Situated on the southern slope of the Central Caucasus, the district is a site of alpinism...
in Tsageri. A local museum exhibits several thousands of archaeological artifacts unearthed in Lower Svaneti
Svaneti
Svaneti is a historic province in Georgia, in the northwestern part of the country. It is inhabited by the Svans, a geographic subgroup of the Georgians.- Geography :...
and Lechkhumi.
In the vicinity of Tsageri, there are the ruins of the medieval fortress of Muris-Tsikhe which might have been the place of exile and death of the Christian theologian Maximus the Confessor
Maximus the Confessor
Maximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius...
(c. 580 – 662). There still exits a monastery dedicated to St. Maximus. The nearby located Khvamli caves, according to the medieval records, preserves the treasury of the kings of Georgia. It has been listed among the national monuments of Georgia and has recently attracted a renewed interest from scholars.