Vale ( ka, ვალე) is a town in southwestern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, from the city of

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region (''mkhare'') of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is situated on both banks of a small river Potskhovi (a left ...

, Samtskhe-Javakheti region, at the border with

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. According to the 2014 census it has a population of 3,646. Vale is a border crossing point into the Turkish village of

Türkgözü Türkgözü (formerly: ''Badele'') is a village in the Posof District, Ardahan Province, Turkey. Its population is 175 (2021). It is a border crossing point to Vale in Georgia. Türkgözü is north of the province center Ardahan and northeas ...

, in

Posof Posof ( ka, ფოცხოვი, Potskhovi, formerly ka, დიღვირი, Dighviri) is a district of Ardahan Province of Turkey, in the far east of the country, 75 km from the city of Ardahan. It has a border crossing with neighborin ...

district. The town is situated on the right bank of the Potskhovi River (a tributary to the

Mtkvari The Kura is an east-flowing river south of the Greater Caucasus Mountains which drains the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus east into the Caspian Sea. It also drains the north side of the Lesser Caucasus while its main tributary, the Ar ...

), on the slopes of the

Lesser Caucasus The Lesser Caucasus, also called Caucasus Minor, is the second of the two main mountain ranges of Caucasus mountains, of length about . The western portion of the Lesser Caucasus overlaps and converges with east Turkey and northwest Iran. It runs ...

at 1,000-1,200 m above sea level. Vale is first recorded as a village in the 10th century. It emerged as a center of

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

industry in the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

era and acquired town status in 1962. Vale houses a medieval Georgian Church of the Theotokos originally built in the 10th century, but reconstructed as a three nave basilica in the 16th century. The town is a home to a sizable Armeno-Georgian

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

community.

References

Cities and towns in Samtskhe–Javakheti Georgia (country)–Turkey border crossings Tiflis Governorate {{Georgia-geo-stub

See also

References