Sachkhere ( ka, საჩხერე ) is a town at the northern edge of the

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი, ) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...

Province in Western

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 ...

. It is the center of the

Sachkhere Municipality Sachkhere ( ka, საჩხერის მუნიციპალიტეტი, tr) is a district of Georgia, in the region of Imereti. Its main town is Sachkhere. From the north, the municipality of Sachkhere is boarded by Oni and Ambrolaur ...

. Farming is a major contributor to the economy of Sachkhere. Alva LLC estimates that there are 4,000 small and medium-sized farms and ranches in the region, supported by a program of technical assistance sponsored by

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

and administered by the Farmer-to-Farmer program of CNFA.

History

From the end of the 15th century, much land in the region was owned by the noble

Tsereteli The House of Tsereteli ( ka, წერეთელი), also known as Tsertelev (Russian), is a noble family in Georgia (and partly, a Russian noble family) which gave origin to several notable writers, politicians, scholars, and artists. Histo ...

family. By the 19th century, Sachkhere had become a very diverse settlement with a sizable community of

Georgian Jews The Georgian Jews ( ka, ქართველი ებრაელები, tr, ) are a community of Jews who migrated to Georgia during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BCE.The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography: The Early Medi ...

. According to official statistics published by the administration of the

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

, in 1880 the total population of 1,034 people was composed of the following religious groups: 628 Georgian Jews, 206 Orthodox Christians (presumably mostly Georgians), and 200 Gregorian Armenians. Some Georgian Jews had moved to Sachkhere from the city of

Kutaisi Kutaisi ( ; ka, ქუთაისი ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia. One of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it is the List o ...

. Prior to the end of

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

implemented in

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 t ...

from 1865 as part of the Russian Empire's Emancipation reform (1861), many Sachkhere Jews had been serfs on the lands of the

family. In 1878, 9 Georgian Jews were arrested in Sachkhere for the alleged killing of a Christian girl from the neighbouring village of Perevisa in

Shorapani uezd The Shorapani ''uezd'' was a county (''uezd'') of the Kutaisi Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It bordered the Racha uezd to the north, the Kutaisi uezd to the west, and the Tiflis Governorate to the east. The area ...

. A classic case of

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

, they were falsely accused of abducting the girl and extracting her blood for purportedly Jewish religious rituals. In March 1879, the case was heard at the Kutaisi Circuit Court, which had been established in early 1868 as one of several new courts in the South Caucasus created by Tsar Alexander II.'s Judicial Reform. During the trial, the defence lawyers Petr Aleksandrov, Lev Kupernik and Moisei Kikodze convinced the judges that the accusations against the Jewish men were mostly based on false testimony. All of the accused were acquitted. The previous year Aleksandrov had already defended the Russian revolutionary

Vera Zasulich Vera Ivanovna Zasulich (; – 8 May 1919) was a Russian socialist activist, Menshevik writer and revolutionary. She is widely known for her correspondence with Karl Marx, in which she put into question the necessity of a capitalist industriali ...

at a highly publicised jury trial in St Petersburg, which had also resulted in an acquittal.

Science

The microbiologist

George Eliava George Eliava ( Georgian — გიორგი ელიავა; January 13, 1892 – July 10, 1937) was a Georgian-Soviet microbiologist who worked with bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria). Eliava was born in Sachkhere. From 1 ...

(1892–1937) was born in Sachkhere.

Sport

Though small, Sachkhere is famous for having produced two Olympic weightlifting champions -

Lasha Talakhadze Lasha Talakhadze ( ka, ლაშა ტალახაძე; ; born 2 October 1993) is a Georgian weightlifter, holding the all-time world records independent of weight category in the snatch (225 kg, 496 lb), the clean and jerk (267& ...

and

Giorgi Asanidze Giorgi Asanidze ( ka, გიორგი ასანიძე; born 30 August 1975 in Sachkhere) is a Georgian former weightlifter, Olympic Champion, World Champion, and three time European Champion who competed in the 85 kg and 77 ...

Climate

References

Cities and towns in Imereti Kutaisi Governorate Populated places in Sachkhere Municipality {{Georgia-geo-stub

History

Science

Sport

Climate

See also

References