The GeorgianDavid Gareji monastery complex is partially located in this province and is subject to a border dispute between Georgian and Azerbaijani authorities.[4]
Signagi is becoming an important cultural center in the region
Beyond the modern-day administrative subdivision into the districts, Kakheti has traditionally been subdivided into four parts: Inner Kakheti (შიდა კახეთი,Shida Kakheti) to the east ofTsiv-Gombori mountain range, along the right bank of theAlazani River; Outer Kakheti (გარე კახეთი,Gare Kakheti) along the middleIori River basin; Kiziq'i (ქიზიყი) between the Alazani and the Iori; Thither Area (გაღმა მხარი,Gaghma Mkhari) on the left bank of the Alazani. It also includes the medieval region ofHereti whose name has fallen into gradual oblivion since the 15th century.
Kakheti was anindependent principality from the end of the eighth century. It was incorporated into the unitedGeorgian Kingdom at the beginning of the eleventh century, but for less than a decade. Only in the beginning of the twelfth century did Georgian KingDavid the Builder (1089–1125) incorporate Kakheti into his Kingdom successfully.[citation needed]
Fifteenth–Sixteenth centuries: peace and prosperity, geopolitical situation
After thedisintegration of the Georgian Kingdom, Kakheti became anindependent Kingdom in the 1460s. In contrast with other Georgian political entities, long reign of Kakhetian Kings –Alexander I (1476-1511),Levan (1518-1574) andAlexander II (1574-1605), was marked by peace and prosperity, population grew steadily and at the turn of the seventeenth century reached 250,000–300,000.Gremi, capital city of the Kingdom andZagemi became one of the most important urban centers of theCaucasus, attracting merchants and artisans from the neighbouring countries. New churches, castles and palaces were built and agriculture developed.
Kvetera, amedieval Georgian Orthodox church and fortress located in Kakheti, 10th century AD
During the last years of the sixteenth century Kakhetian feudal army consisted of 10,000cavalrymen, 3,000infantry and 500 musketeers. Horsemen and foot soldiers were armed with bows, arrows, sabres, shields and spears, whilemusketeers had hand-guns.[6] Furthermore, Alexander II made some futile efforts to introduce artillery fromMuscovy.
During the sixteenth century international situation of the Georgian Kingdoms worsened dramatically,Transcaucasus became battleground of the powerful Muslim –Ottoman andSafavid – Empires, while Georgia was completely isolated from theChristian world. Additionally, greatly accelerated process of the Islamization of the North Caucasian peoples, including Dagestani mountaineers – direct neighbours of Kakheti. From1555 the Kingdom was a vassal of the successive dynasties of Persia[7] and to a much shorter period Ottoman Empire[8] but enjoyed intermittent periods of greater independence, especially after 1747.
Formally under the vassalage of the Safavid dynasty, Levan of Kakheti was desirous to diminish foreign influence over Georgia, stealthily sending Kakhetian detachments to his son-in-lawSimon I of Kartli against theQizilbashes in the 1560s. Alexander II, the astute son of the previous King, continued Levan's policy, switching sides during the Ottoman–Safavidwar several times, simultaneously strengthening his realm. In addition, Alexander's army had to confront north-eastern neighbour of the Kingdom –Shamkhalate, whose rulers tried to wreak havoc to the borderlands of Kakheti, kidnapping peasants and looting countryside.[9] During the last quarter of the sixteenth century Kakhetian feudal army defeated Shamkhals’ undisciplined bands several times, killing hundreds of marauders.[10]
Throughout the fifteenth–eighteenth centuries Georgian Kings and Princes, including those of Kakheti, constantly tried to establish diplomatic relations with thePopes and Christian Monarchs of theWest –Holy Roman Empire,Spain,France,Prussia,Naples etc. calling them for aid against the Ottoman and Safavid incursions. However, nothing came from these attempts, geographic distance and ongoing wars made it impossible for the Europeans to support fellow Christian nation. As a result Georgian political entities had to fight against Muslim invaders virtually alone, while geographical isolation greatly limited opportunity for the Georgian elites to come into contact with theepochal changes taking place in Europe during theearly modern period.[citation needed]
If the political and military assistance from theWestern Europe proved to be unrealistic, in the northGrand Duchy of Muscovy, freed from the Mongol-Tatar yoke in 1480, seemed as a steadfastly growingOrthodox superpower. Alexander I of Kakheti became the first Georgian King to establish formal diplomatic contact with the Russians, dispatching two embassies to Grand DukeIvan III of Muscovy in 1483 and 1491.[11] In 1556,Astrakhan was conquered byIvan the Terrible. After eleven years Terek-Town fort was built,[12] Russians became nearly direct neighbours of Kakheti. In 1563, King Levan, grandson of Alexander I, appealed to the Muscovites to take his realm under their protection against the Ottomans, and Safavids. Tsar Ivan IV responded by sending a Russian detachment to Georgia, but Levan, pressured by Iran, had to turn these troops back after several years. King Alexander II also appealed for Russian support against foreign encroachments. In 1587, he negotiatedThe Book of Pledge, forming an alliance between Kakheti and theRussian Tsardom.David I of Kakheti (1601–1602), the rebellious son of Alexander II, during his short reign reaffirmed loyalty to the foreign policy of his predecessors. However, as theTimes of Troubles began in Russia, Georgian political entities could not count on Muscovite assistance in their struggle for independence.[11]
Seventeenth century: Abbas I's invasions, Teimuraz I, struggle for survival
The scene of the martyrdom of Queen Ketevan on a panoramicazulejo at theGraça Convent inLisbon, Portugal
In 1605,Constantine, younger son of Alexander II, who was raised at the Safavid court and converted to Islam, according to Shah's secret instruction assassinated his father and brother. The assassination of the royal family and usurpation of the crown by Constantine I infuriated the Georgians, who rose in a rebellion under the direction ofQueen Ketevan later that year. On October 22, 1605, the Kakhetian army routed the Qizilbash forces of Constantine, who was killed on the battlefield.[13] Caught by surprise, Abbas I grudgingly accepted the result of the 1605 Uprising and was forced to confirm sixteen years oldTeimuraz I (1605–1648) – nemesis of the Safavids in the future – as a new King of Kakheti.
In 1612, thetreaty of Nasuh Pasha was concluded,war with the Ottomans was temporarily over. From now onShah Abbas I could attack eastern Georgia without hindrance – dethrone Christian Kings, establish Qizilbash khanates and deport or exterminate insubmissive Georgians from their homeland.[14] In October 1613, Abbas I moved his army toGanja. Next spring, he turned on Kakheti, demanding Teimuraz's sons as hostages. After taking counsel, Teimuraz I sent his mother Ketevan and his younger son, Alexander, to Iran. The Shah insisted; reluctantly, the Kakhetians sent the heir, Levan. Shah Abbas I then demanded Teimuraz's attendance. At this point war broke out.[15] In 1614–1617, Abbas I led several campaigns against Kakheti and Kartli, massacred anddeported hundreds of thousands ethnic Georgians to Iran, also despite stiff resistance and heavy defeat atTsitsamuri[16] forced Teimuraz I toImereti. Shah Abbas I castrated both sons of the obdurate King and savagely tortured and burned to death his mother Queen Ketevan on September 13, 1624.[17] Ketevan was canonized by theGeorgian Orthodox Church and remains a symbolic figure in Georgian history. The story of her martyrdom was publicized in Europe, and several literary works were produced, includingAndreas Gryphius’Katharina von Georgien (1657).[18] Moreover, Shah sought to populate Kakheti with the Turkoman tribes.[19]
In 1624, Shah Abbas I turned his attention to Georgia again. Fearing a potential revolt, he dispatched some 35,000 men underQarachaqay Khan andGeorge Saakadze to subdue eastern Georgia. Although Saakadze had already served the Shah for twelve years, Abbas I didn't trust Georgian general completely and kept George's son,Paata, as a hostage. The Shah's anxiety was justified, since the GrandMouravi had maintained covert communications with the Georgian forces and devise a plan to destroy the enemy army.[20] Saakadze surreptitiously united Kartli and Kakheti behind him.[21] He deviously ‘advised’ Qarachaqay Khan to split his forces into small groups and send them into Kakheti, while the major army camped nearMartqopi.[22]
On March 25, 1625, Saakadze summoned the war council where he personally slew Qarachaqay Khan andYusuf Khan of Shirvan, while his son,Avtandil, and his Georgian escorts killed other Qizilbash commanders, including Imam Verdi Khan, Qarachaqay's son.[23] Receiving a signal,Zurab Eristavi – another Georgian noble in Abbas's service – charged with his main forces, virtually annihilating leaderless Iranian troops.[24][25]Annunciation Day (25 March) brought an extraordinaryvictory – Saakadze's and Duke Zurab's army massacred 27,000 out of 30,000 strong Turkoman-Persian army, took their arsenal and besieged Tbilisi's citadel before the puppet-kingSimon II (1619–1630) could arrive. Within days, all Kartli and Kakheti was in Georgian hands.
After that, Saakadze's army invaded neighbouring provinces of the Safavid Empire – plundering Ganja and razing to the ground countryside to theAraxes river, thus avenging Shah Abbas’ invasions.[26][27] Since the Georgian Uprising was sudden, Qizilbash tribes living inKarabakh were caught by surprise and had to flee further south hastily. Even though Georgians managed to capture thousands of Qizilbashes. AsSaintLuarsab II of Kartli had already been martyred on the orders of the Shah in 1622,[28] Teimuraz I was invited fromGonio to take the crowns of Kartli and Kakheti, thereby uniting both Kingdoms.[25][29]
Abbas I, like Iran's and Turkey's chroniclers, was aghast at this debacle.[30] His counterattack came in June 1625, when another Qizilbash army numbering 40,000, led byIsa Khan andKaikhosro-Mirza, entered in Kartli and bivouacked on theMarabda Field, while the Georgians were higher up in theKojori gorge.[31] At the council of war, George Saakadze urged King Teimuraz I and other lords to remain in position, since descending into the valley would allow the Iranians to take advantage of their numerical superiority as well as firepower.[32] However, powerful lords were concerned about the enemy ravaging their estates and threatened to defect unless the battle was given at once, thus the Grand Mouravi was overruled.[33]
On July 1, 1625, Teimuraz I ordered theattack. The Iranians, armed with the latest weaponry, were well prepared for the assault, having dug trenches and deployed their troops in four lines, with the first kneeling, the second standing, the third on horseback, and the fourth on camels.[34][30][33] Georgians, lacking firearms, suffered heavy casualties, but the impetus of their attack pierced the Qizilbash lines and spread confusion among the enemy. As the Iranians began to flee, a small group of Georgian troops pursued them while others began to plunder the Qizilbash camp. At this moment, the Iranian reinforcement numbering 20,000, led by Shahbandeh Khan of Azerbaijan, arrived charging the befuddled Georgians;[35] in the resultant confusion, PrinceTeimuraz Mukhranbatoni was killed but the rumor spread that King Teimuraz I had been killed, further demoralizing the Georgian host. The Georgians were defeated, losing about 10,000 killed and wounded,[30] including 900 mountaineers from theDuchy of Aragvi.[36] Among the dead were thenine brothers Kherkheulidze who defended the royal banner to the last, as well as the prominent nobles –Baadur Tsitsishvili andDavid Jandieri, nineMachabelis, sevenCholokashvilis, bishops of Rustavi and Kharchisho.[37] Furthermore, Zurab Eristavi, the mighty Duke of Aragvi, was severely wounded. The Iranians suffered heavy losses as well, losing some 14,000 men,[33] including Amir Guneh Khan of Erivan – deadly wounded byManuchar III Jaqeli.[36]
Following the battle, Saakadze again led the Georgian resistance and turned to guerrilla war, eliminating some 12,000 Qizilbashes in theKsani Valley alone.[33] Among the dead was Shahbandeh Khan of Azerbaijan, whileQazaq Khan Cherkes was captured. The Georgian Uprising of 1625 debunked Shah Abbas’ plans of destroying the Georgian states and setting up Qizilbash khanates in Kartli and Kakheti.[38] Losing half of his army forced Shah Abbas I to let vassals rule eastern Georgia. He abandoned plans to cleanse it of Christians.[30]George Saakadze (1942) is a Soviet Georgian historical drama film directed byMikheil Chiaureli, depicting the heroic struggle of theGeorgian nation against the Ottoman and Safavid hordes during the first quarter of the seventeenth century. The film is based on the six-volume novel,The Grand Mouravi (1937–1958), ofAnna Antonovskaya.[citation needed]
Demographic, material, economic and cultural losses inflicted to the Kingdom of Kakheti by the hordes of the Qizilbashes, during the first quarter of the seventeenth century, were irreparable. Population of the Kingdom dwindled to 50,000–60,000, while Gremi and Zagemi were almost completely devastated and never fully recovered from the blow dealt by the invaders. Hundreds of villages, castles and churches were razed to the ground or badly damaged. Yet still, fierce resistance resulted in Georgians preserving statehood, most of their ethnic territories, as well as religion of the ancestors.[citation needed]
Dagestani peoples, encouraged by the Safavid officials, constantly attacked poorly defended countryside of Kakheti,[39] and massively migrated to the easternmost region of the Kingdom –Eliseni, on the left bank of theAlazani river.[40] Such a development led to aprolonged conflict between the Georgians and marauding Dagestani bands, greatly hampering revival of the Kakhetian Kingdom. Teimuraz I took an energetic measures against the Dagestanis’, suddenly attacked and decapitated theSultan of Elisu, avenging for his participation in the Abbas I's Georgian campaigns.[41] Besides that Teimuraz I tried to reestablish Christianity in the westernmost part ofDagestan, between the mountainousDido people, traditionally closely related with Kakheti. Despite some initial successes, efforts made by the King proved to be futile.[42]
During the next five years Teimuraz I got rid of his major rivals one by one – defeating Saakadze in the decisivebattle of Bazaleti (1626) and assassinating Simon II and Zurab Eristavi, both in 1630. In 1632, he shelteredDaud Khan Undiladze, the Safavid governor of Ganja and Karabakh. After Abbas's death in 1629, once mighty clan of the Undiladze fell into disfavor and was destroyed on the order of theShah Safi. In response, Daud Khan colluded with Teimuraz I, deceitfully leading detachment of theQajars to theIori river to be massacred by Kakhetians.[43] Additionally, Teimuraz's army immediately invaded Arran and Karabakh several times, pillaging Ganja twice.[44]
In 1633, Safavid counterattack came, the Qizilbash army led byRostom Khan, uncle of the late Simon II, forced Teimuraz I to Imereti. Rostom (1633–1658) became the new King of Kartli. However, in the following year, to the disappointment of the Shah, Teimuraz I managed to reestablish himself in the Duchies of Aragvi andKsani. Moreover, by 1638, Kakheti was under full control of the unruly King. During the 1630s Teimuraz I renewed his attempts to establish close ties with Russia. In 1639, he petitioned the Tsar of Russia for help and signed an oath of loyalty.[45] However, no military aid had arrived.
In 1642, Teimuraz I conspired with Catholicos-Patriarch of eastern Georgia –Eudemus I and Kartlian nobles, to assassinate Rostom of Kartli, when the Muslim King was relaxing unguarded in the country. After that, Teimuraz I had to captureTbilisi, expel Qizilbashes and unite eastern Georgian Kingdoms. However, a conspirator betrayed the plot. Rostom had the Catholicos-Patriarch arrested and imprisoned at the citadel of Tbilisi, where he was strangled.[46] Eudemus I was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church as a holyhieromartyr. Six years later stubborn King of Kakheti was finally ousted from the power, losing the heir –Prince David, in the fatefulbattle of Magharo.[47] Rostom, loyal vassal of the Shah, became the new ruler of Kakheti.
Taking shelter in Imereti, deposed Kakhetian King had his grandsonHeraclius sent to the Russian court. In 1658, Teimuraz I travelled toMoscow, thus becoming the first Georgian King to visit Russia. In 1661, seventy-two years old King was captured during the Imeretian campaign of the King of Kartli,Vakhtang V (1658–1675). Teimuraz I was escorted as an honoured prisoner through Kartli toShah Abbas II's court – the Shah urged him to accept Islam, offered him meat on a fast day and, when Teimuraz I declined, threw wine in his face and imprisoned him in Astrabad by theCaspian.[48] Here, the most valiant Georgian King of the seventeenth century died in 1663. Teimuraz I was buried in theAlaverdi Monastery.
In 1656, Shah Abbas II made another attempt to settle Turkoman tribes in Kakheti. As a result, in 1659, Georgiansrevolted again, tens of thousands Turkomans were massacred, or forced to leave Kakheti. The location,Gatsqvetila (‘Exterminated’), where the most Qizilbashes were slaughtered, became infamous.[48] By 1660, Shah acknowledged his failure in Kakheti. However, Safavids also threatened retaliation if rebel leaders did not surrender.Bidzina Cholokashvili, Shalva and ElizbarEristavis of Ksani chose to sacrifice their lives to avoid further bloodshed and traveled to Isfahan, where they were executed. The events of the 1659 Uprising produced numerous oral traditions, especially in mountainous regions of eastern Georgia –Tusheti,Pshavi andKhevsureti, where poems dedicated to local heroes became popular. In the nineteenth century,Vazha-Pshavela used these traditions to create one of his finest poems,Bakhtrioni (1892), while his fellow writerAkaki Tsereteli produced another classic of Georgian literature,Bashi-Achuki (1896).[49]Bashi-Achuki (1956) is also a Soviet Georgian historical drama film directed byLeo Esakia.
In 1664,Archil II (1664–1675), the eldest son of the Kartlian King Vakhtang V, was confirmed as a new King of Kakheti, nominally converting to Islam. Eleven years of the Archil's reign proved to be the most successful period of the calamitous seventeenth century. Archil II managed to start a long process of the revival of Kakheti.[50] During his reign tens of deserted villages were repopulated, churches and monasteries repaired, castles rebuilt. In addition,Telavi – insignificant town during the fifteenth–seventeenth centuries – emerged as a new political and urban center of the Kingdom. Effectively exploiting military resources of his father's realm, Archil II organized several victorious expeditions in Dagestan, forcing mountaineers to submission.[51] As a result, during the reign of Archil II inroads of the Dagestani bands decreased significantly. However, in 1675, he had to leave Kakheti, whileHeraclius I was forced to stay in Isfahan for years, before his nominal conversion to Islam.
From 1676 to 1703 Kakheti was put under direct control of the Safavid appointed khans, whose authority being merely nominal. Iranian khans, unable to deal with the Georgian nobility backed by restive vassal of the SafavidsGeorge XI of Kartli (1676–1688; 1703–1709), tried to weaken aristocratic resistance by encouraging further incursions and migration of the Dagestanis’ into Kakhetian lands.[52]
Eighteenth century: Heraclius II, political and cultural revival, twilight of the Kartli-Kakhetian Kingdom
King Teimuraz II by Efim Vinogradov and Alexei Grekov
In 1703, Kakhetian branch of the house of Bagrationi was restored, ruling as the vassals of the degenerating Safavid dynasty. During the next twenty years Heraclius I (1675–1676; 1703–1709) andDavid II (1709–1722) had to deal with the incessant Dagestani inroads. Despite some initial successes, Eliseni, the easternmost region of the Kingdom, was irrevocably lost in the 1710s,[53] and free communities of the mountaineers, known asDjaro-Belokani, were established, while Georgian peasants living there had to leave or to Islamize gradually. They who chose the latter, became known asIngiloys.
In 1722,Constantine II (1722–1732), the illegitimate son of Heraclius I, became the new King of Kakheti. In the next year,Shah Tahmasp II ordered him to remove from powerVakhtang VI of Kartli, who adopted an anti-Safavid policy and made an alliance with Russia, which proved to be unsuccessful. Constantine II of Kakheti, reinforced by theTranscaucasian Tatars and Dagestanis, invaded Kartli and captured Tbilisi on May 4, 1723. Defeated King of Kartli and his supporters fled toShida Kartli. The same year, the Ottoman army marched against the Constantine II, who was unable to stop it and offered to negotiate. The Ottomans entered Tbilisi on June 12, 1723, deceiving and imprisoning King of Kakheti during the negotiations. Fortunately for him, Constantine II managed to escape to his realm. After Vakhtang VI of Kartli immigrated to Russia in 1724, King of Kakheti became the sole leader of the anti-Ottoman resistance in eastern Georgia. Since Safavid Iran was on the verge of collapse, nominally Muslim Constantine II decided to return to the centuries-old pro-Russian foreign policy of his forefathers and offered to place Kartli and Kakheti under the Russian protection. However, Peter the Great, as well as his successors had no intention to start a new war against the Ottomans.[54]
Meanwhile, Ottoman Empire skillfully used coreligionist Sunni Dagestanis against recalcitrant Georgian King, encouraging them to put constant pressure on Kakheti. On September 26, 1724, the Ottomans defeated Constantine's army in the fierce battle ofZedavela, while Dagestani bands devastated countryside. As a result, Constantine II had to find shelter in Pshavi. Yet still, in 1725, Georgians managed to drive marauding bands of the mountaineers out of Kakheti. By 1730, Kakhetian King was forced to recognize Ottoman supremacy and agreed to pay tribute. Additionally, Constantine II, indifferent to religion, converted fromShia toSunni Islam. Seven years long resistance of Georgians resulted in invaders abandoning initial plan of annexation of Kakheti, as theOttoman Porte had done inSamtskhe-Saatabago at the turn of the seventeenth century. On December 28, 1732, the Ottomans, never fully confident in Constantine's loyalty, murdered Kakhetian King in a treacherous way, inviting him to negotiate.[54]
Constantine II was succeeded byTeimuraz II (1732–1744), the only Christian son of Heraclius I. With the accession of Teimuraz II to the throne forty years of Muslim Kings ruling period (1664–1675; 1703–1732) was over. In 1733, Teimuraz II reluctantly recognized suzerainty of theSultan, only to attack his forces in the next year. TheTurks, caught by unawares, were defeated in the bloodybattle of Magharo.[55]
King Heraclius II
A shrewd statesman, Teimuraz II tried to use Qizilbashes to his advantage and supportedTahmasp Qoli Khan in his campaigns to restore Iranian dominance in eastern Transcaucasus, in the 1730s. Initially, Tahmasp Qoli Khan already asNader Shah, distrusted the stubborn King, who refused to convert to Islam even after detainment. However, the Shah, preoccupied bywar on India, conceded that a Christian King would best keep Kartli and Kakheti peaceful and spare him from fighting on two fronts. First, he took with him to Iran Teimuraz II, his sonHeraclius and his daughter Ketevan as hostages: Nader Shah married Ketevan to a relative, and enlisted Heraclius, who had military genius, for the Indian front. Meanwhile, in 1738, Teimuraz II, supported by the Qizilbashes, came back in his realm.[56] He managed to suppress the anti-Iranian rebellion led by the influential Kartlian noble,Givi Amilakhvari,[55] and consolidate his power in Kartli, thus de facto uniting eastern Georgian Kingdoms.
In 1744, Nader Shah confirmed Teimuraz II and his sonHeraclius II (1744–1762) as the kings of Kartli and Kakheti and allowed them to perform Christian coronations.[57] Father and son were crowned at theSvetitskhoveli Cathedral on October 1, 1745 – the first Christian coronation of the eastern Georgian kings in over a century.[58]
Loss of independence and establishment of the Imperial administration led to an imminent uprisings. In 1802, Kakhetian nobles revolted, insurgents planned to restore kartli-Kakhetian Kingdom. However, Russians quickly responded and crushed the rebellion.[60] In 1810–1811, Kakheti suffered from poor harvests and plague, which led to food shortages and high prices. Despite the hardship, Russian officials forced the peasantry to sell their remaining produce to the state at a low price. As the Russian troops began requisitioning supplies, a peasant uprising flared up in the village ofAkhmeta on January 31, 1812. The insurgents defeated Russians in the hard-fought battle ofBodbiskhevi, killing 2 officers and 212 soldiers,[61] captured and slaughtered the entire Russian garrison of Signagi and later seized Telavi,Anaga,Dusheti, andPasanauri. After some hesitations the rebels were supported by the local nobility and clergy. They proclaimed a princeGrigol Bagrationi, great-grandson ofHeraclius II and grandson ofGeorge XII as the King of Kartli-Kakheti.[62] The revolt soon spread toKartli, and the Russian forces lost more than 1,000 men in clashes with the insurgents. The rebellion continued throughout 1812 until the superior Imperial army, led by governors of Caucasus – Italian-bornMarquis de Paulucci andNikolay Rtishchev finally defeated it and pacified the region by early 1813.[63]
The Alazani River Plain, with the Caucasus Mountains in the background
The Kakheti Wine Region is located in the eastern part of Georgia and comprises two river basins,Iori andAlazani. These rivers have a significant influence on the character of Kakhetian wines. Kakheti is bordered on the west by another very important wine region of Georgia - Kartli. Together with the location, the climatic conditions of the region play an essential role in the formation of Kakheti wines. Kakheti vineyards are cultivated at an altitude of 250–800 meters above sea level. Both humid subtropicals, as well as continental climates can be found in the region. Kakheti terroir provides ideal conditions for both local varieties and international wine varieties as well. The two most popular wine varieties utilize Rkatsiteli and Saperavi grapes. These two wine varieties have become the face of the region and Georgia, and have experienced surges in demand as Georgian wine gains popularity internationally.
The travel infrastructure in Kakheti is fast developing, since it is the most visited region of Georgia. One can choose to stay in a guest house, in a small and comfortable hotel, or a beautiful boutique-style hotel while traveling in this region. Telavi and Signagi are the most visited towns. Signagi was renovated three years ago. Until recently there were only some family hotels (simple rooms in a family-owned house with a shared bathroom), but now Signagi features several hotels.
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