Vale ( ka, ვალე) is a town in southwestern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, from the city of

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია ), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region () of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and ...

, Samtskhe-Javakheti region, at the border with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. According to the 2014 census it has a population of 3,646. Vale is a

border crossing point A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods Border control, are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-control ...

into the Turkish village of Türkgözü, in

Posof Posof ( ka, ფოცხოვი, Potskhovi, formerly ka, დიღვირი, Dighviri) is a town in Ardahan Province of Turkey, in the far east of the country, 75 km from the city of Ardahan and near the Georgia–Turkey border, border ...

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

Mtkvari The Kura, also known in Georgian as Mtkvari ( ), is an east-flowing transboundary 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 ...

), on the slopes of the

Lesser Caucasus The Lesser Caucasus or Lesser Caucasus Mountains, also called Caucasus Minor, is the second of the two main ranges of the Caucasus Mountains, of length about . The western portion of the Lesser Caucasus overlaps and converges with east Turkey an ...

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 (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), 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 ...

industry in the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

community.

References

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

See also

References