Dusheti () 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 ...

, the administrative center of Dusheti Municipality, in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti

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 ...

, 54 km northeast of the nation's capital of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

History

Dusheti is on both banks of the small, mountainous Dushetis-Khevi River in the foothills of the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

range at an elevation of 900 m. It functions as the center of the Dusheti Municipality which, beyond the town itself, includes several villages of the historical community of

Pkhovi Pkhovi ( ka, ფხოვი), also known as Pkhoet'i (ფხოეთი), is a medieval term for the mountainous district in northeast Georgia comprising the latter-day provinces of Pshavi and Khevsureti along the upper reaches of the Aragvi, ...

, ( Pshavi, and Khevsureti). As of the 2014 all-Georgia census, the town had a population of about 6,167. Dusheti first appears in Georgian written records in 1215. In the 17th century, it served as a residence of the local mountainous lords – the dukes of Aragvi – whose defiance to the Georgian crown more than once led to invasions and devastation of the town by the royal troops. After the abolition of the duchy of Aragvi in the 1740s, Dusheti passed to the crown but significantly declined. In 1801, the

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

took over and granted Dusheti a town status. Next year, it became the center of Dusheti uezd. The town and its environs were a scene of disturbances during the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

, the peasants’ revolt in 1918, and an armed clash during the 1924

August Uprising The August Uprising ( ka, აგვისტოს აჯანყება, tr) was an unsuccessful insurrection against Soviet rule in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic from late August to early September 1924. Aimed at restoring the in ...

against the

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, ...

rule. Dusheti was a center of agriculture and light industry during the Soviet era, but suffered an economic decline and population decrease in the years following the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Nowadays, most people work in service industries (banking, education, auto-repair, and retail) as well as subsistence farming. The town is also known for its '' khinkali'', a meat-filled dumpling very popular in Georgia.

Transport

Dusheti has access by a paved road to the highway connecting

and

Stepantsminda Stepantsminda ( ka, სტეფანწმინდა; formerly Kazbegi, ), is a townlet in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of north-eastern Georgia. Historically and ethnographically, the town is part of the Khevi province. It is the center of t ...

. There is a regular bus traffic between Dusheti and Tbilisi.

Culture and recreation

There are several historical and recreational places in and around Dusheti such as the Ananuri castle and the

Bazaleti Lake The Bazaleti Lake ( ka, ბაზალეთის ტბა) is a lake in eastern Georgia some 60 km northwest of the nation's capital Tbilisi and 5 km south of the town of Dusheti. The surface area of the lake is 1.22 km2. and ...

. The town itself houses a number of architectural monuments including the 9th-10th-century church of St. George and the 18th-century palace of the Chilashvili family.

History

Transport

Culture and recreation

Climate

Notable people

References