Kurta ( ka, ქურთა; os, Курта) is an

abandoned village An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, f ...

in the former

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

n autonomous oblast of

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 ...

. Populated largely by ethnic

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

, it was one of the towns that remained under the control of Georgia between the unilateral secession of South Ossetia after the

1991–1992 South Ossetia War The 1991–1992 South Ossetia War (also known as the First South Ossetia War) was fought between Georgian government forces and ethnic Georgian militia on one side and the forces of South Ossetia and North Ossetian volunteers who wanted South ...

and the

2008 South Ossetia War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

. Kurta is situated nine kilometers north-east of

Tskhinvali Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალი ) or Tskhinval ( os, Цхинвал, Чъреба, Tskhinval, Chreba, ; rus, Цхинва́л(и), r=Tskhinvál(i), ) is the capital of the disputed ''de facto'' independent Republic of South Ossetia, int ...

, the secessionist-controlled capital of South Ossetia, on the right bank of the

Greater Liakhvi River The Great Liakhvi ( ''Didi Liakhvi'', , ''Styr Lewakhi'') is a river in central Georgia, which rises on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in the de facto independent region of South Ossetia and flows into the Kura (Mtk ...

, and is strategically placed along the

Trans-Caucasus Highway The Transcaucasian Highway (russian: Транскавказская автомагистраль) or TransKAM (ТрансКАМ) is a mountain highway in the South Caucasus region, connecting southern Russia and Georgia. Geography As the A164 hig ...

(TransCam) between Tskhinvali and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. After the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members; of these, 120 are proportio ...

passed a resolution on the establishment of the Temporary Territorial Unit on April 11, 2007, Kurta became the headquarters of the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia headed by the ethnic Ossetian

Dmitry Sanakoyev Dmitry Ivanovich Sanakoyev (born 10 May 1969 in Tskhinvali, South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union) is a South Ossetian and Georgian politician, a former official in the secessionist government of South Ossetia and later, f ...

. The Georgian government also allocated 1,850,000

lari Lari may refer to: Currency * Georgian lari, the currency of Georgia * Maldivian laari, or lari, a coin denomination of the rufiyaa of the Maldives Places *Lari Constituency, an electoral constituency in Kenya * Lari, Ardabil, or Lahrud, a ...

to rehabilitation of the village's infrastructure.Georgia’s South Ossetia Conflict: Make Haste Slowly

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a transnational non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, performing research and analysis on global ...

, ''Europe Report N°183'', 7 June 2007 Kurta and its environs are part of the Greater Liakhvi Valley Museum-Reserve. The village itself houses a

late medieval The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

Georgian Orthodox The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

church of

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

. სოფ. ქურთა. სამების წმ. გიორგის ეკლესია //შიდა ქართლი პატარა და დიდი ლიახვის ხეობების არქიტექტურული მემკვიდრეობა.-თბ.,2002.-გვ.199-200. On the eve of the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia, all the Georgian inhabitants were evacuated to un-occupied Georgian territory and most of their abandoned homes were destroyed later. The homes were not rebuilt and the population did not return, leaving the largely destroyed village a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurta (Village) Ghost towns in Europe Populated places in Tskhinvali District