Editing Akhaltsikhe

{{more citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                     = Akhaltsikhe
| native_name              = {{lang|ka|ახალციხე}}
| image_skyline            = {{Photomontage|position=center|photo1a = Akhaltsike, view from Rabati.jpg|photo2a = Rabati, Akhaltsikhe, Georgia.jpg|photo3a = Rabati Castle in Akhaltsikhe, view from the city.jpg|size = 280|spacing = 2|border = 0}}
| image_flag               = Flag_of_Akhaltsikhe_Municipality.svg
| image_seal               = COA_of_Akhaltsikhe.svg
| pushpin_map              = Georgia (country)#Samtskhe-Javakheti
| mapsize                  = 280
| map_caption              = Location of Akhaltsikhe in Georgia
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = {{GEO}}
| subdivision_type1        = [[Mkhare|Region]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Samtskhe–Javakheti]]
| subdivision_type2        = [[Districts of Georgia (country)|Municipality]]
| subdivision_name2        = [[Akhaltsikhe Municipality|Akhaltsikhe]]
| established_title        = Founded
| established_date         = 1200
| population_as_of         = 2024
| population_footnotes     = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://geostat.ge/media/61960/1-3-population-by-cities-and-boroughs.xlsx |title=Population by regions |publisher=National Statistics Office of Georgia |access-date=28 April 2024 }}</ref>
| population_total         = 17287
| timezone                 = Georgian Time
| utc_offset               = +4
| coordinates              = {{coord|41|38|20|N|42|59|10|E|region:GE|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_m              = 1029
| postal_code_type         = Postal code
| postal_code              = 0800
| website                  = {{URL|https://akhaltsikhe.gov.ge/en}}
}}
'''Akhaltsikhe''' ({{lang-ka|ახალციხე}} {{IPA|ka|äχäɫt̪͡s̪ʰiχe̞||}}), formerly known as '''Lomsia''' ({{lang-ka|ლომსია}} {{IPA|ka|ɫo̞ms̪iä|}}), is a small city in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia's]] southwestern region ({{Transliteration|ka|[[mkhare]]}}) of [[Samtskhe–Javakheti]]. It is the administrative center of the [[Akhaltsikhe Municipality]] and the Samtskhe–Javakheti region. It is situated on both banks of the small river Potskhovi (a left tributary of the [[Kura (South Caucasus river)|Kura]]), which divides the city between the old city in the north and new in the south.

The 9th-century [[Akhaltsikhe Castle|Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Castle]], which was recently restored, is located in the old part of the city. It is one of the main attractions of the [[Samtskhe–Javakheti]] region, along with [[Vardzia]], [[Vale, Georgia|Vale]], [[Okros Tsikhe|Okrostsikhe]] and [[Zarzma monastery|Zarzma]].

==Toponymy==
Akhaltsikhe is the [[Georgian language|Georgian]] name of the town, which literally means "new fortress". It is attested in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] sources as {{transliteration|ar|Akhiskha}} (and {{transliteration|ar|Akhsikhath}}), in [[Persian language|Persian]] as {{transliteration|fa|Akhesqeh}} (also spelled as {{transliteration|fa|Akheshkheh}}), and in [[Turkish language|Turkish]] sources as {{transliteration|ota|Ahıska}}.<ref name="EI2">{{EI2|last=Minorsky|first=V.|authorlink=Vladimir Minorsky|title=Ak̲h̲isk̲h̲a|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/akhiskha-SIM_0470?s.num=67&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.start=60&s.q=ottoman+persian|volume=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Floor|first1=Willem M.|authorlink=Willem Floor|title=Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration, by Mirza Naqi Nasiri|date=2008|publisher=Mage Publishers|location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1933823232|page=140}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Sanjian |first=Avetis K. |editor-first1=Avedis K. |editor-last1=Sanjian |title=Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts, 1301-1480: A Source for Middle Eastern History |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/harvard.9780674432635/html |volume=2 |page=395 |year=2013 |access-date= |series=Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies |publisher=Harvard University Press |language=en |doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674432635 |isbn=978-0-674-43263-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Azerbaijani village of [[Axısxa]] is also named after it, due to the population of the village originating from Akhaltsikhe.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.lib.az/users/1/upload/files/Azerbaycan_toponimlerinin_ensiklopedik_lugeti.pdf |title=Azərbaycan Toponimlərinin Ensiklopedik Lüğəti |publisher=Sharg-Garb Publishing and Printing House |year=2007 |volume=1 |page=34 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330070622/https://www.lib.az/users/1/upload/files/Azerbaycan_toponimlerinin_ensiklopedik_lugeti.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-30 |language=az |trans-title=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Azerbaijani Toponyms |quote=Axısxa: Sabirabad r-nunun eyniadlı i.ə.v.-də kənd. Kür çayının sol sahilində, şirvan düzündədir. 1944-cü ildə Gürcüstanın Axısxa r-nundan Qazaxıstana və Orta Asiyaya sürgün edilmiş, 60-cı illərdə isə Azərbaycana köçmüş türk ailələri tərəfindən salınmış yaşayış məntəqəsi onların köhnə məskənlərinin adı ilə adlandırılmışdır. Mənbələrdə axısxa/axsıxa Axalsix qalasının adı, Axal isə təkə-türkmənlərin yaşadığı yer kimi izah olunur.}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Akhaltsikhe (19th century).jpg|thumb|left|Akhaltsikhe c. 1887]]
The town is mentioned among the settlements conquered by general [[Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri]] during the reign of [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] Caliph [[Mu'awiya I]] (661–680). During the [[Mongol invasions of Georgia|Mongol domination of Georgia]], local rulers of the [[House of Jaqeli]], who ruled the feudal principality of [[Samtskhe-Saatabago]], were invested with the title of [[atabeg]] and were allowed to be autonomous. In contemporaneous Persian and Turkish sources, these Jaqeli rulers were referred to as ''Ḳurḳūra'', which derives from {{transliteration|ka|Qvarqvare}}—the name of several Jaqeli rulers.<ref name="EI2"/>

In 1579, during the [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590)|Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590]], the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] took the town. In the ensuing period, the Ottomans implanted Islam and Ottoman customs. In 1625, the town became the centre of the [[Childir Eyalet|Akhalzik Eyalet]] of the Ottoman Empire known as {{transliteration|ota|Ahıska}} and it held a resident Ottoman [[pasha]]. The town rose to strategic importance and became a leading hub of the Caucasian slave market.<ref name="EI2"/> By the late 17th century, the town was home to 400 households, consisting of a mixed population of Turks, Armenians, Georgians, Greeks and Jews.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chardin |first1=John |url=http://archive.org/details/travelsofsirjohn00char |title=The travels of Sir John Chardin into Persia and the East Indies : the first volume, containing the author's voyage from Paris to Ispahan : to which is added, the coronation of this present king of Persia, Solyman the Third |last2=Pitt |first2=Moses |last3=Loggan |first3=David |date=1686 |publisher=London : Printed for Moses Pitt in Duke-Street Westminster |others=Getty Research Institute |pages=168}}</ref>

In 1828, during the [[Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829)|Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829]], Russian troops under the command of General [[Ivan Paskevich]] [[Battle of Akhaltsikhe|captured the city]] and, as a consequence of the 1829 [[Treaty of Adrianople (1829)|Treaty of Adrianople]], it was ceded to the [[Russian Empire]]. The city initially become part of the [[Kutaisi Governorate]], then of the [[Tiflis Governorate]], becoming the administrative centre of the [[Akhaltsikhe uezd]].<ref name="EI2"/>

In the late 1980s the city was host to the [[Soviet Army]]'s [[10th Guards Motor Rifle Division]], which became a [[brigade]] of the [[Defence Forces of Georgia|Georgian land forces]] after the fall of the Soviet Union.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

==Population==
{| style="text-align:center; font-size:85%; border:1px solid black; background:#fafafa"
|+ {{big|'''Population and ethnic composition of Akhaltsikhe from the late 19th century'''}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/rngeorgia.html|title=население грузии|access-date=October 8, 2016}}</ref>
|-
! scope="col" style="width:70px;" | Year
! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:110px;" | Georgians 
! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:115px;" | Armenians
! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:100px;" | Russians
! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:90px;"  | Jews
! scope="col" colspan=2 style="width:90px;"  | Others
! scope="col" style="width:70" | Total
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1886 
| 2,733
| 17%
| 10,417
| 64.6%
| 146
| 0.9%
| 2,545
| 15.8%
| 275
| 1.7%
| '''16,116'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | [[Russian Empire Census|1897]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/emp_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=451 |title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |access-date=October 8, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818113307/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/emp_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=451 |archive-date=August 18, 2016 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/axalcixe1897.html|title=АХАЛЦИХСКИЙ УЕЗД (1897 г.)|access-date=October 8, 2016}}</ref>
| 3,578
| 23.3%
| 9,035 
| 58.8%
| 1,172
| 7.3% 
| 438
| 2.9% 
| 1,134
| 3.4% 
| '''15,357'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1916<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.prlib.ru/item/417322 |title=Кавказский календарь на 1917 год |publisher=Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom |year=1917 |edition=72nd |publication-place=Tiflis |pages=206–213 |language=Russian |trans-title=Caucasian calendar for 1917 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104233151/https://www.prlib.ru/item/417322 |archive-date=4 November 2021}}</ref>
|2,783
|10.9%
|18,165
|71.3%
|716
|2.8%
|3,246
|12.7%
|560
|2.2%
|'''25,470'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1926<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/axalcixe26.html|title=Ахалцихский уезд 1926|website=www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru}}</ref>
| 1,817
| 14.8% 
| 6,516
| 52.9% 
| 1,425
| 11.6% 
| 94
| 0.8% 
| 2,458
|20.0% 
! 12,310
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1959<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/axalcixe59.html|title=Ахалцихский район 1959|website=www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru}}</ref>
| 6,801
| 25.7% 
| 14,341
| 54.1% 
| 3,509
| 13.2% 
| 368
| 1.4% 
| 1,478
|5.6% 
| '''26,497'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1979<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethnic composition: 1979 census |url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic1979.htm |website=pop-stat.mashke.org |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201220093322/http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic1979.htm |archive-date=20 December 2020 |access-date=20 December 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| 5,714
| 29.2% 
| 10,278
| 52.5% 
| 2,208
| 11.3% 
| 337
| 1.7% 
| 1,050
| 5.4% 
| '''19,587'''
|-

| style="text-align:left;" | [[1989 Soviet census|1989]]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
! 24,570
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 2014<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethnic composition, all places: 2014 census |url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic-loc2014.htm |website=pop-stat.mashke.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220100552/http://pop-stat.mashke.org/georgia-ethnic-loc2014.htm |archive-date=20 December 2020}}</ref>
| 12,838
| 71.7%
| 4,781
| 26.7%
| 75
| 0.4%
| 11
| 0.06%
| 198
| 1.1%
! 17,903
|-
| style="text-align:left;" |2023<ref>{{Cite web |title=Georgia: Regions, Major Cities & Urban Settlements - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/georgia/cities/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=www.citypopulation.de}}</ref>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|'''16,943'''
|}

==Climate==
[[File:Cityscape of Akhaltsikhe 02.jpg|290px|thumb|View of Akhaltsikhe]]

{{Weather box
|location = Akhaltsikhe (1991–2020, extremes 1981-2020)
|metric first = y
|single line = y
|width = auto
|Jan record high C = 14.5
|Feb record high C = 20.0
|Mar record high C = 26.0
|Apr record high C = 30.9
|May record high C = 32.9
|Jun record high C = 36.6
|Jul record high C = 40.5
|Aug record high C = 40.0
|Sep record high C = 37.0
|Oct record high C = 35.1
|Nov record high C = 26.0
|Dec record high C = 17.5
|year record high C = 40.5
|Jan high C = 3.6
|Feb high C = 6.0
|Mar high C = 11.8
|Apr high C = 17.6
|May high C = 22.3
|Jun high C = 26.1
|Jul high C = 29.5
|Aug high C = 30.3
|Sep high C = 25.6
|Oct high C = 19.1
|Nov high C = 11.2
|Dec high C = 5.1
|year high C = 17.4
|Jan mean C = -2.6
|Feb mean C = -0.9
|Mar mean C = 4.0
|Apr mean C = 9.1
|May mean C = 13.9
|Jun mean C = 17.7
|Jul mean C = 21.0
|Aug mean C = 21.1
|Sep mean C = 16.6
|Oct mean C = 10.8
|Nov mean C = 3.9
|Dec mean C = -1.0
|year mean C = 9.5
|Jan low C = -6.9
|Feb low C = -5.8
|Mar low C = -1.8
|Apr low C = 2.5
|May low C = 7.4
|Jun low C = 11.3
|Jul low C = 14.4
|Aug low C = 14.1
|Sep low C = 9.6
|Oct low C = 4.7
|Nov low C = -1.1
|Dec low C = -5.2
|year low C = 3.6
|Jan record low C = -25.5
|Feb record low C = -22.2
|Mar record low C = -21.4
|Apr record low C = -14.1
|May record low C = -2.8
|Jun record low C = -0.4
|Jul record low C = 4.1
|Aug record low C = 1.5
|Sep record low C = -1.5
|Oct record low C = -7.5
|Nov record low C = -19.5
|Dec record low C = -24.3
|year record low C = -25.5
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 22.3
|Feb precipitation mm = 24.5
|Mar precipitation mm = 36.5
|Apr precipitation mm = 48.6
|May precipitation mm = 75.5
|Jun precipitation mm = 75.1
|Jul precipitation mm = 58.4
|Aug precipitation mm = 51.5
|Sep precipitation mm = 39.9
|Oct precipitation mm = 41.9
|Nov precipitation mm = 31.1
|Dec precipitation mm = 25.2
| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days  =5.1
| Feb precipitation days  =5.5
| Mar precipitation days  =6.8
| Apr precipitation days  =8.6
| May precipitation days  =12.4
| Jun precipitation days  =11
| Jul precipitation days  =8.1
| Aug precipitation days  =7.8
| Sep precipitation days  =6.5
| Oct precipitation days  =7.3
| Nov precipitation days  =5.4
| Dec precipitation days  =5.6

| Jan humidity    =81
| Feb humidity    =77.7
| Mar humidity    =72.9
| Apr humidity    =71.9
| May humidity    =73.6
| Jun humidity    =73.7
| Jul humidity    =70.2
| Aug humidity    =68.8
| Sep humidity    =71.4
| Oct humidity    =76.6
| Nov humidity    =80.3
| Dec humidity    =82.2
| year humidity   =

|source 1 = [[NOAA]]<ref name="NCEI">
{{cite web
|url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Georgia/CSV/Akhaltsikhe_37514.csv |format=CSV | title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020: Akhaltsikhe-37514 | publisher = [[NCEI|National Centers for Environmental Information]] | access-date = 16 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="WMOClino81">
{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211009215740/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1981-2010/RA-VI/Georgia/WMO_Normals_Georgia.xls
| archive-date = 9 October 2021
| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1981-2010/RA-VI/Georgia/WMO_Normals_Georgia.xls
| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1981–2010
| publisher = [[NCEI|National Centers for Environmental Information]]
| access-date = 9 October 2021}}</ref>
}}

==Archaeology==
[[File:Akhaltsikhe P1010757 (11464720006).jpg|290px|thumb|Streets of Akhaltsikhe]]
The highland environment between Akhaltsikhe and [[Aspindza]] presents a varied and complex array of archaeological features in different locations, elevations and topographies. This includes the alluvial flood-plain of the Kura River, all the way to the high grasslands.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Human habitation is attested already in the [[Bronze Age|Early Bronze Age]] (4th millennium BC) and later. Artifacts from the Roman and medieval periods are also strongly represented in the area.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Amiranis Gora===
The important archaeological site of Amiranis Gora is located on the northeastern outskirts of Akhaltsikhe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kakhiani |first1=Kakha |last2=Sagona |first2=Antonio |last3=Sagona |first3=Claudia |last4=Kvavadze |first4=Eliso |last5=Bedianashvili |first5=Giorgi |last6=Massager |first6=Erwan |last7=Martin |first7=Lucie |last8=Herrscher |first8=Estelle |last9=Martkoplishvili |first9=Inga |last10=Birkett-Rees |first10=Jessie |last11=Longford |first11=Catherine |date=2013 |title=Archaeological Investigations at Chobareti in Southern Georgia, the Caucasus |url=https://doi.org/10.2143/ANES.50.0.2975510 |journal=Ancient Near Eastern Studies |volume=50 |issue= |pages=1–138 |doi=10.2143/ANES.50.0.2975510 |issn=1378-4641}}</ref> It was excavated by Tariel Chubinishvili.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chubinishvili |first=T. N. |title=Amiranis Gora: masalebi Mesxetʻ-Javaxetʻis użvelesi istoriisatʻvis |publisher=Sabchota Saqartvelo |location=Tbilisi |language=ka |script-title=ka:ამირანის გორა: მასალები მესხეთ-ჯავახეთის უძველესი ისტორიისთვის |trans-title=Amiranis Gora: Materials on the Ancient History of Meskhet-Javakheti |oclc=21445209}}</ref> The earliest carbon date for Amiranis Gora is 3790-3373 cal BC. It was obtained from the charcoal of the metallurgical workshop which belonged to the earliest building horizon of Amiranis Gora<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kushnareva |first1=K. Kh. |title=Drevnie kulʹtury I︠U︡zhnogo Kavkaza: (V-III tys. do n.ė.) |last2=Chubinishvili |first2=T. N. |publisher=[[Nauka (publisher)|Nauka]] |year=1970 |location=Leningrad |at=p. 114, fig. 5.1 |language=ru |script-title=ru:Древние культуры Южного Кавказа (V-III тыс. до н.э.) |trans-title=Ancient Cultures of Southern Caucasus (5th-3rd millennia BCE) |oclc=3011868}}</ref> This indicates a division of metallurgical production into extractive and processing branches.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Kavtaradze |first=Giorgi Leon |url=https://www.geocities.ws/komblege/ansch1.htm |title=The Beginnings of Metallurgy: Proceedings of the International Conference "The Beginnings of Metallurgy", Bochum, 1995 |publisher=Deutsches Bergbau-Museum |year=1999 |isbn=9783921533635 |editor-last=Hauptmann |editor-first=Andreas |location=Bochum |chapter=The importance of metallurgical data for the formation of a Central Transcaucasian chronology}}</ref>

Amiranis Gora is an important reference point for the study of the Early Bronze Age [[Kura–Araxes culture]], also known as the Early Transcaucasian Culture. The many references include the architecture, burial practices, material culture and metallurgy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Palumbi |first=G. |title=The Red and Black: Social and Cultural Interaction between the Upper Euphrates and Southem Caucasus Communities in the Fourth and Third Millennium BC |publisher=Università di Roma "Sapienza" |year=2008 |isbn=9788890424007 |series=Studi di Preistoria Orientale 2 |volume=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kiguradze |first1=Tamaz |title=Archaeology in the Borderlands: Investigations in Caucasia and Beyond |last2=Sagona |first2=Antonio |publisher=Cotsen Institute of Archaeology |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-931745-01-7 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Adam T. |pages=38–94 |chapter=On the Origins of the Kura-Araxes Cultural Complex |editor-last2=Rubinson |editor-first2=Karen Sydney |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/3131921}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Burney |first1=Charles |title=The People of the Hills, Ancient Ararat and Caucasus |last2=Lang |first2=David Marshall |publisher=Praeger |year=1971 |isbn= |location=New York}}</ref> Amiranis Gora is one of the best sites with fixed [[stratigraphy]] of the Kura-Araxes culture. The carbon date for the Kura-Araxes material at Amiranis Gora is 3630-3048 cal B.C., which is very early.<ref name=":0" />

==People associated with Akhaltsikhe==
*[[Gregorio Pietro Agagianian]] (1895–1971), [[Patriarchate of Cilicia|Patriarch of Cilicia]] and the [[Armenian Catholic Church]], [[College of Cardinals|Cardinal]], and first [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Catholic]] [[papabile]] since Cardinal [[Bessarion]] during the [[Renaissance]]
*[[Charles Aznavour]], world-famous French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent (father, Michael Aznavourian, was born in Akhaltsikhe)
*[[David Baazov]], rabbi at Akhaltsikhe (1918)
*[[Shio Batmanishvili]], [[hieromonk]] of the [[Congregation of the Immaculate Conception|Servites of the Immaculate Conception]], first [[Exarch]] of the [[Georgian Byzantine-Rite Catholics|Georgian Greek Catholic Church]], and survivor of [[Solovki prison camp]]. [[Christian martyrs|Martyred]] by the [[NKVD]] during [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[Great Purge]] and buried in the mass grave at [[Sandarmokh]] in the [[Republic of Karelia]].
*[[Hovhannes Kajaznuni]] (1868–1938), first prime minister of the [[First Republic of Armenia]]
*[[Ahmed-Pasha Khimshiashvili]] (?–1836), [[Pasha]] of Ahiska
*[[Sergo Kobuladze]] (1909–1978), painter and illustrator
*[[Hakob Kojoyan]] (1883–1959), Soviet Armenian artist
*[[Shalva Maglakelidze]], plenipotentiary for the Russian Provisional Government and then for the government of Georgia in Akhaltsikhe (1917–1918)
*[[Stepan Malkhasyants]], Armenian academician
*[[Hakob Manandian]], Armenian historian
*[[Palavandishvili]] family
*[[Giorgi Mazniashvili]], governor general of Akhaltsikhe (1919–1920)
*[[Natela Svanidze]], Georgian composer
*[[Michel Tamarati]] (1858–1911), Georgian Catholic priest and historian
*[[Vakhtang of Imereti|Vakhtang Tchutchunashvili]] (?–1668), usurper of the throne of Imereti, fled to Ahiska after being deposed
*[[Vakhtang V of Kartli|Vakhtang V]], [[Kingdom of Kartli|King of Kartli]], fled to Ahiska after a failed coup
*[[Lusine Zakaryan]] (1937–1991), Soviet Armenian soprano singer

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Georgia (country)}}

===Twin towns and sister cities===
Akhaltsikhe is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:
*{{flagicon|TUR}} [[Ardahan]], [[Turkey]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.ardahan.bel.tr/ardahan-hakkinda | title=About Ardahan | accessdate=2022-03-02 | work=Website Ardahan| language=tk }}</ref>

==Notable People==
*[[Artur Grigoryan (footballer)|Artur Grigoryan]], Russian-Armenian former football player
*[[Aida Babajanyan]], Armenian-Georgian actress and dancer
*[[Hovhannes Kajaznuni]], Armenian politician, First Prime Minister of Armenia 
*[[Karp Khachvankyan]], Armenian actor and director, People's Artist of Armenia (1967)

==See also==
*[[Battle of Akhaltsikhe]]
*[[Samtskhe–Javakheti]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Wikivoyage}}
{{EB1911 poster|Akhaltsikh}}
{{commons category}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Cities and towns in Georgia (country)}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Samtskhe–Javakheti]]
[[Category:Tiflis Governorate]]
[[Category:Kura-Araxes culture]]