Zestafoni or Zestaponi ( ka, ზესტაფონი, tr, ) is the administrative center of

Zestafoni District Zestafoni ( ka, ზესტაფონის მუნიციპალიტეტი) is a municipality of Georgia, in the region of Imereti. The municipality covers a total area of 423 square kilometres and as of 2014 it had a population tota ...

in Western

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 ...

. Zestafoni is the center of an ancient, historical part of Georgia – Margveti, which is a part of

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 munic ...

province. Zestafoni is the center of Margveti's Eparchy of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Zestafoni is situated in the furthest east of the Colchis Plateau, and is built on both banks of the

Qvirila River The Qvirila ( ka, ყვირილა) is a river of Georgia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . It is a left affluent of the Rioni, which it joins south of the city Kutaisi. Geographic information It originates in South Ossetia, in ...

. It is an important industrial center, with a large ferro-alloy plant processing manganese ore from nearby

Chiatura Chiatura () is a city in the Imereti region of Western Georgia. In 1989, it had a population of about 30,000. The city is known for its system of cable cars connecting the city's center to the mining settlements on the surrounding hills. The city ...

. Zestafoni is in the

Kolkheti In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally thou ...

lowlands, a semi-tropical region with relatively cold winters averaging in January and hot summers averaging in August. The surrounding countryside is a wine-growing region.

Industry

The town of Zestafoni and the smaller neighboring town of

Shorapani Shorapani ( ka, შორაპანი) is a small Georgian town, situated in the Zestafoni District, part of the region of Imereti. Founded in the 3rd century BC, it served as a residence of the ''eristavi'' (dukes) of Argveti (also known as th ...

are industrial centers. The Zestafoni ferro-alloy plant processes raw manganese ore shipped by rail down the Kvirila valley from Chiatura, supplying 6% of world demand. The largest ferroalloy plant in the country, in 1998 it produced 35,000 tonnes of silicomanganese and 11,000 tonnes of medium-carbon manganese alloy. This was well below its previous peak production of 110,000 tonnes of manganese-based alloys. The British steel trading company Stemcor acquired the ferro-alloy plant in February 2006. Two other plants in the Zestafoni / Shorapani area produce electrical products, aluminum and copper cable and wire. There were more plants in the Soviet era producing fireproof clay, marble and clothing. Zestafoni is also one of the winery-vinery centers of Georgia. Wine prepared from the Tsitsqa and

Tsolikouri Tsolikouri ( ka, ცოლიკოური) is a light yellow-skinned white grape variety grown mainly in western Imereti district of Georgia. It cultivated in Kolkhida Lowland at an altitude of above sea level. Out of 400 different types of ...

species are widely known.

History

Zestafoni lies west of the small but ancient fortress town of

, founded by

Pharnavaz I of Iberia Pharnavaz I (; ka, ფარნავაზ I ) was a king of Kartli, an ancient Georgian kingdom known as Iberia in classical antiquity. ''The Georgian Chronicles'' credits him with being the first monarch founding the kingship of Kartli ...

in the 3rd century BC. The town of Zestafoni is first mentioned in historical records in the 1560s. The name of the city is connected with the bank of river Kvirila ( ka, phoni), upper bank ( ka, Zeda phoni), that was used by the local population and foreign travelers from ancient times. In the 1820s a Cossack army was posted in the town, which was then called "Kvirila" after the river that runs through it. During the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, the city was the administrative center of the

Shorapani Uyezd The Shorapani ''uezd'' was a county (''uezd'') of the Kutaisi Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It bordered the Racha uezd to the north, the Kutaisi uezd to the west, and the Tiflis Governorate to the east. The are ...

of the

Kutaisi Governorate The Kutaisi or Kutais Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of western Georgia throughout most of its existence, and most of the Artvin Province (except th ...

. In the 1920s the name was changed again to "Jugeli", after a famous revolutionary. Only later did the city regain its historical name. There are many historical monuments in the Zestafoni region: Zeda Saqara (11th century), Tabakini (6th century), Tseva (11th century), Sanakhshire and other churches, and castles from the early Middle Ages in Shrosha and Shorapani. Shorapani (Sarapanis) is the toponymy, that is mentioned in old Greek mythology. That was Sarapanis that Jason and his Argonaut friends approached during their travel in old Colchis (Kolkhida).

Sports and culture

The local football club,

FC Zestafoni Football Club Zestafoni is a Georgian football club based in Zestafoni. They play their home games at David Abashidze Stadium. Zestafoni was founded on 18 June 2004 by the initiative of the shareholders of JSC Giorgi Nikoladze Zestafoni Ferro ...

, plays in the top league in Georgia and twice won the Georgian championship in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 season. The local women's basketball team was champion of Georgia in 2011. The city's stadium was built by Zestafoni Ferro-alloy Plant in 1952 and since its renovation has a capacity of 4,600. The writer

Boris Akunin Boris Akunin (russian: Борис Акунин) is the pen name of Grigori Chkhartishvili (russian: Григорий Шалвович Чхартишвили, Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili; ka, გრიგორი ჩხარტიშვ ...

and philosopher Tengiz Tsereteli were born in Zestafoni. The psychologist and philosopher

Dimitri Uznadze Dimitri Uznadze ( ka, დიმიტრი უზნაძე; December 2, 1886 – October 9, 1950, Tbilisi) was a Georgian psychologist and professor of psychology, co-founder of the Tbilisi State University (TSU) and of the Georgian Academy ...

was born in the nearby village of Sakara in 1886. Famous Georgian actors Shalva Ghambashidze, Ushangi Chkheidze, Sergo and Bukhuti Zakariadze were also born in Zestafoni. World wrestling (Greco-Roman) champion Mikhail Saladze is from Zestafoni.

Notable people

- psychologist *

* Shalva Dadiani *

Zaza Tavadze Zaza Tavadze ( Georgian: ზაზა თავაძე, born 9 February 1975) is a former chairman of the Constitutional Court of Georgia elected by the Plenum of the Constitutional Court on October 20, 2016. From 2010 until 2016 he held the p ...

- is a former chairman of the

Constitutional Court of Georgia The Constitutional Court of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს საკონსტიტუციო სასამართლო, tr) is the constitutional court of Georgia, the country's judicial body of constitutional review, h ...

Twin towns — sister cities

Zestafoni is twinned with:

References

External links

Zestafoni.Ge
{{Cities and towns in Georgia (country) Cities and towns in Imereti Kutaisi Governorate Populated places in Zestafoni Municipality