, nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = File:Zagatala.JPG , imagesize = , image_caption = Nature of Zagatala , mapsize = , pushpin_map = Azerbaijan#Shaki-Zagatala , pushpin_mapsize = 300 , map_caption = Location of Zagatala , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 =

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, subdivision_name1 = Zagatala , coordinates = , established_title = , established_title2 = , established_date = , established_date2 = , established_title3 = , established_date3 = , area_footnotes = , area_magnitude = , area_total_km2 = , area_total_sq_mi = , area_land_km2 = , area_land_sq_mi = , area_water_km2 = , area_water_sq_mi = , area_metro_sq_mi = , area_metro_km2 = , area_water_percent = , area_urban_km2 = , area_urban_sq_mi = , population_as_of =

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, population_note = , population_footnotes = , population_total = 32,171 , timezone =

AZT Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent mother-to-child ...

, utc_offset = +4 , elevation_ft = 1702 , elevation_m = 518 , elevation_footnotes = , website = , footnotes = Zagatala ( az, Zaqatala; av, Zakatala) is a city in northwestern

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and the administrative center of the

Zagatala District Zagatala District ( az, Zaqatala rayonu; av, Закатала мухъ, translit=Zakatala muq; Tsakhur: Закаталайни район) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country and belongs to the Sh ...

. It has a municipal population of 31,300 inhabitants and is located on the Tala River. The municipality consists of the city of Zagatala and the nearby village of Qazangül. The city is populated mostly by Azerbaijanis, but with significant minorities of the indigenous Avar, Lezgin, Tsakhur and

Ingiloy Ingiloys ( az, İngiloylar; ka, ინგილოები) are an ethnographic subgroup of Georgians who speak the Ingiloy dialect of Georgian. Ingiloys are indigenous to Saingilo (formerly known as Hereti), a cultural and historical region ...

peoples.

History

The territory of modern Zagatala was once a province of Caucasian Albania. After that, the region was a separate kingdom within Georgian cultural and political influence. During the medieval era what later became known as Saingilo was mostly controlled by the kingdom of Georgia and Shirvan. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

seven Georgian schools operated in Saingilo which included the courses of theology, philosophy, orthography, church history, and the history of Georgia and for the students. These schools played an essential cultural and educational role. They put a vital contribution in establishing cultural relations among the peoples of the Caucasus. Zagatala has several sites of historic significance, most of which are centred on its 19th-century town centre. The main square, formerly called Lenin Square, features a pair of 700-year-old

plane trees ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...

. The city's most prominent feature is a ruined fortress, built in the 1830s by occupying

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

forces during the Caucasian War to defend the city from rebels (See

Djaro-Belokani The Djaro-Belokani communities (also Char, Car, Jar, Djari, Chary, rarely Chartalah) were a group of self-governing communities in the Caucasus from the 17th to the 19th centuries. They had close ties with the Elisu Sultanate to the southeast. Ge ...

league). In the 1850s, the town was the site of battles between Russians and Dagestani leader

Imam Shamil Imam Shamil ( av, Шейх Шамил, Şeyx Şamil; ar, الشيخ شامل; russian: Имам Шамиль; 26 June 1797 – 4 February 1871) was the political, military, and spiritual leader of North Caucasian resistance to Imperial Russia in ...

. It was center of Zakatal Okrug ("district") of the

Tiflis Governorate The Tiflis Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire with its administrative center in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). In 1897, it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population ...

between 1893 and 1905. It was part of the

Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR; (), (). 22 April – 28 May 1918) was a short-lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as pa ...

briefly in 1918 before passing to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and later the

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

. In the 20th century the town and its fortress became more famous when the fortress was used as one of the prisons for the mutinous crew of the battleship ''Potëmkin'', whose actions in the failed

1905 Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

were a precursor to the eventual 1917 revolution. The statue of one of the mutineers erected 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 still decorates

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Aze ...

park not far from the fortress. Currently, the fortress still houses a military garrison as well as several Soviet-style apartment buildings. Near the northern part of the ramparts and off of the main square is a beautiful, but abandoned, church. The town now sports a sizable new

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

Overview

It is served by the A315 road coming from

Mingachevir Mingachevir ( az, Mingəçevir ) is the fourth-largest city in Azerbaijan with a population of about 106,000. It's often called the "city of lights" because of its hydroelectric power station on the Kur River, which divides the city down the mid ...

and leading to the Georgian border at

Lagodekhi Lagodekhi ( ka, ლაგოდეხი) is a town, located at the foot of the Greater Caucasus mountains between the rivers Lagodekhiskhevi and Shromiskhevi, in the historical region of Hereti (now part of Kakheti). Lagodekhi has a number of ...

as well as by a small airfield. North of the town there is an important wildlife and nature preserve. The

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

provide it with natural protection from the north winds. The wooded mountainsides, with frequent waterfalls, offer great

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

opportunities. Due to its climate, the town became a mountain health resort. There are several hotels in both Zagatala and surrounding villages including Ashaghi Tala and

Jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on cap, ...

, both about from Zagatala.

Sports

Stadioon- Zagatala Merkezi Stadionu - panoramio

The city has 2 professional football teams, Simurg and

Zagatala PFK Zagatala PFK ( az, Zaqatala Peşəkar Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club based in Zaqatala. History The club was founded in 2015 and participates in the Azerbaijan First Division. League and Cup Stadium Zaqatala City Stadium is ...

Zaqatala City Stadium Zaqatala "Simurq" is a multi-use stadium in Zaqatala, Azerbaijan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it considered as home ground of FK Simurq Zaqatala Simurq PIK ( az, Simurq Peşəkar Idman Klubu) was an Azerbaijani footba ...

located in Galaduzu area was inaugurated in 2008 within the Zagatala Olimpic Sports Complex. It has a capacity of 3,500 people.

Demographics

Majority of the city and the district are ethnic

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...

with significant minorities of Avars,

Lezgins Lezgins or Leks ( lez, Лезгияр, Лекьер. lezgijar) are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group native predominantly to southern Dagestan, a republic of Russia, and northeastern Azerbaijan. The Lezgin are predominantly Sunni Muslims and s ...

Tsakhurs The Tsakhur or Caxur ( lez, ЦIахурар, az, Saxurlar, russian: Цахуры) people are a Lezgin sub-ethnic group of northern Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan (Russia). The group numbers around 30,000 people and are called ''yiqy'' (pl. ''yiq ...

and Ingiloys. The majority of population are Sunni Muslim, with Orthodox Christians (mostly Ingiloys) minorities.

Transportation

Zaqatala International Airport serves the city. The airport is connected by bus to the city center. There are domestic flights to

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, however currently it is unavailable. Zagatala Bus station- There are two bus stations in Zagatala. One is in the centre, near the Farmer's Market. This bus station serves only the villages of Zagatala. The second bus station is out of the centre, and this station serves the other cities and capital. Customers can buy the tickets directly at the bus station. Reaching this Bus station passengers can either take public transports or taxi. Zagatala Railway station- There is a railway station to Zagatala and it connects Baku (the capital) to Zagatala with a 12-hour ride.

Climate

Zagatala has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Cfa) according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Gallery

Zagatala_City_Park_-_www.Qaxlilar.tk_-_panoramio_(9).jpg, Park in Zagatala Zagatala fortress.jpg, Zagatala Fortress Zaqatala-GeorgianChurch.jpg, The abandoned Georgian church in Zagatala

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaqatala (City) Populated places in Zaqatala District Avar-speaking countries and territories