Tamarasheni ( ka, თამარაშენი) is a former village in

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 ...

, within the territory controlled by separatist

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

, some 0.5 km north of Tskhinvali. Per Georgian administrative division the village is in Shida Kartli region. During the 2008 South Ossetia War, the village was completely destroyed by the Ossetian forces and depopulated of its majority Georgian population. After the war, the South Ossetian regime included the former Tamarasheni territory in Tskhinvali as a "Moscow Microdistrict" inaugurated by the mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov. The village is situated in the Great Liakhvi River valley. Tradition holds it that the modern-day village was founded by the medieval queen

Tamar of Georgia Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr , ; 1160 – 18 January 1213) queen regnant, reigned as the List of monarchs of Georgia#Kings of unified Georgia (1008–1490), Queen of Kingdom of Georgia, Georgia from 1184 to 1213, ...

(1284–1212) as a small town. Hence, the settlement's name, literally meaning "built by Tamar". It was formerly part of the late medieval Georgian princedom of

Samachablo Samachablo ( ka, სამაჩაბლო ) is a Georgian historical district in Shida Kartli, Georgia (country), Georgia, which has been occupied in 2008 by Russia, lies entirely within the disputed Tskhinvali Region (controlled by the partia ...

(literally, "the estate of the Machabeli amily) and then of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (abolished in 1990). Populated mostly by ethnic Georgians, the village lies within the ongoing

Georgian–Ossetian conflict The Georgian–Ossetian conflict is an Ethnic conflict, ethno-political conflict over Georgia (country), Georgia's former autonomous region of South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a 1991–1992 South Ossetia War, war. Despit ...

zone, and remained under the government of Georgia's control till the 2008 South Ossetia War. Tamarasheni is a home to a museum of the 19th-century Georgian writer and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

translator Ivane Machabeli who was born there in 1854. The museum was severely damaged on July 23, 1997, in a blast allegedly organized by local Ossetian separatists. Most of the village's houses were destroyed during the 2008 South Ossetia War by Ossetian militias.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

Georgia: Satellite Images Show Destruction, Ethnic Attacks
29.08.08

References

{{reflist Populated places in Gori Municipality

See also

References