Tsageri ( ka, ცაგერი, ''Cageri'') is a town in
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 ...
, located in
Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti
Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti ( ka, რაჭა-ლეჩხუმი და ქვემო სვანეთი, ''Rach’a-Lechkhumi da Kvemo Svaneti'') is a region (Mkhare) in northwestern Georgia with a population of 28,500 (2021), mak ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
in the west of the country and serving as an administrative center of the
homonymous
In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones ( equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definition ...
district.
Tsageri is located at 475 m above sea level, on the right bank of the
Tskhenis-Tsqali
Tskhenistsqali ( ka, ცხენისწყალი, ''Cxenisċqali'', also: ''Tskhenistskali'') is a river in northern Georgia. Its source is in the main range of the Caucasus Mountains, in the easternmost part of the Lentekhi Municipality, l ...
, an affluent of the
Rioni river
The Rioni ( ka, რიონი, ; , ) 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 (near ancient Phasis). The city o ...
. As of the 2014 census, the town had a population of approximately 1,320, mostly
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, ...
.
History
In medieval Georgia, Tsageri was an episcopal see, with a cathedral described by the early 18th-century geographer
Vakhushti
Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი, tr) (1696–1757) was a Georgian royal prince ('' batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, '' Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and the '' ...
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 (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
, were also lost in the process.
Under 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 ...
and early
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, ...
government, Tsageri functioned as an administrative center of the
Lechkhumi Uyezd
The Lechkhumi uezd was a county (''uezd'') of the Kutaisi Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It bordered the Terek and Kuban ''oblasts'' to the north, the Sukhumi Okrug to the west, the Zugdidi, Senaki, and Kutais ue ...
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 ...
. It acquired the status of a town in 1968.
Culture and religion
There is the residence of the
Georgian Orthodox bishop of Tsageri and
Lentekhi
Lentekhi ( ka, ლენტეხი, ) is a small town and Lentekhi District's (Raion) 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 ...
in Tsageri. A local museum exhibits several thousands of archaeological artifacts unearthed in Lower
Svaneti
Svaneti or Svanetia (Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia. It is inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians.
Geography
Situated on the southern slop ...
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 ( el, Μάξιμος ὁ Ὁμολογητής), also spelt Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople ( – 13 August 662), was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar.
In his ea ...
(c. 580 – 662). There still exits a monastery dedicated to St. Maximus. The nearby located
Khvamli
Khvamli ( ka, ხვამლი) or Khomli (ხომლი) is a limestone massif in western Georgia, located on the territories of Tsageri and Tsqaltubo municipalities and forming the watershed division between the Rioni and Tskhenis-Tsqali riv ...
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.
TBC ბანკმა, კომპანია ‘ბორჯომმა’ და ‘ელიტ ელექტრონიკსმა’ ‘ხვამლის’ გადაღება დააფინანსეს ("TBC Bank, Borjomi and Elite Electronics sponsored the film "Khvamli")
''The 24 Hours'', cited at ''News.ge''. 2008-04-20.
References
{{Cities and towns in Georgia (country)
Cities and towns in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti
Kutaisi Governorate
Populated places in Tsageri Municipality