Samtskhe-Javakheti

The river Jobiskhevi, a tributary of the Mtkvari, threads through this jaw-droppingly beautiful region, dividing the two areas of Samtskhe and Javakheti that form it.

History

Samtskhe-Javakheti was part of Tao-Klarjeti, a cradle of medieval Georgian culture that extended well into what is now Turkey. Artifacts found during archeological diggings indicate that Samtskhe-Javakheti was settled during the Bronze Age.

Tao-Klarjeti fell under Ottoman rule from the 1550s to the 1870s, was briefly part of independent Georgia after the Russian Revolution, and was then divided between Turkey and Bolshevik Georgia in 1921.