The name ofTskhinvali is derived from theOld GeorgianKrtskhinvali (Georgian:ქრცხინვალი), from earlierKrtskhilvani (Georgian:ქრცხილვანი), literally meaning "the land ofhornbeams",[4][5] which is the historical name of the city.[6] Seeცხინვალი for more.
From 1934 to 1961, the city was namedStaliniri (Georgian:სტალინირი,Ossetian:Сталинир), which was a compilation ofJoseph Stalin's surname with Ossetian word "Ir" which meansOssetia. ModernOssetians call the cityTskhinval (leaving off the final "i", which is anominative case ending in Georgian); the other Ossetian name of the city isChreba (Ossetian:Чъреба) which is only spread as acolloquial word.[7] The name Chreba comes from theGeorgianḲreba (Georgian:კრება), literally meaning "gathering" due to the city historically serving as a trading point.[8]
Humans first settled in the area around present-day Tskhinvali in theBronze Age. The unearthed settlements and archaeological artifacts from that time are unique in that they reflect influences from bothIberian (east Georgia) andColchian (west Georgia) cultures with possibleSarmatian elements.
A vintage photo of Tskhinvali by D. Rudnev, 1886
Tskhinvali was first chronicled by Georgian sources in 1398 as a village inKartli (central Georgia), though a later account credits the 3rd-century AD Georgian kingAspacures II of Iberia with its foundation as a fortress. By the early-18th century, Tskhinvali was a small "royal town" populated chiefly by monastic serfs. Tskhinvali was annexed to theRussian Empire along with the rest of eastern Georgia in 1801. Located on atrade route which linkedNorth Caucasus to Tbilisi andGori, Tskhinvali gradually developed into a commercial town with a mixedGeorgian Jewish,Georgian,Armenian andOssetian population. In 1917, it had 600 households with 38.4% occupied byGeorgian Jews, 34.4% by Georgians, 17.7% by Armenians and 8.8% by Ossetians.[9]
The town sawclashes between the Georgian People's Guard and pro-Bolshevik Ossetian peasants during the 1918–20 period, when Georgia gainedbrief independence from Russia.Soviet rule was established by theinvadingRed Army in March 1921, and a year later, in 1922, Tskhinvali was made a capital of theSouth Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within theGeorgian SSR. Subsequently, the town became largely Ossetian due to intense urbanisation and to the Sovietkorenizatsiya ("nativization") policy which induced an inflow of the Ossetians from the nearby rural areas into Tskhinvali. The settlement was essentially an industrial centre, with lumber mills and manufacturing plants, and had also several cultural and educational institutions such as a venerated Pedagogical Institute (currently Tskhinvali State University) and a drama theatre. According to the lastSoviet census (in 1989), Tskhinvali had a population of 42,934, and according to the census of Republic of South Ossetia in 2015, the population comprised 30,432 people.
During the acute phase of theGeorgian-Ossetian conflict of 1989 and following, Tskhinvali was a scene of ethnic tensions and ensuing armed confrontation between Georgian and Ossetian forces. The 1992Sochi ceasefire accord left Tskhinvali in the hands ofOssetians.
The monument to the victims of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict nearthe Armenian church in Tskhinvali
A considerable part of the population of South Ossetia (at least, 30,000 out of 70,000) fled intoNorth Ossetia–Alania prior or immediately after the start of theRusso-Georgian War in August 2008.[10] However, many civilians were killed during the shelling and the followingBattle of Tskhinvali of 8 to 11 August 2008 (162 civilian deaths were documented by the Russian team of investigators[11] and 365 – by the South Ossetian authorities[12]). The town was heavily damaged during the battle due to extensive shelling by theGeorgian Army.Andrey Illarionov visited the town in October 2008 and reported that Jewish Quarter was in ruins, though he observed that the ruins were overgrown with shrubs and trees, which indicates that the destruction took place during the1991–1992 South Ossetia War.[13] However,Mark Ames, who was covering the last war forThe Nation, stated that Tskhinvali's main residential district, nicknamed Shanghai because of its population density (it's where most of the city's high-rise apartment blocks are located), and the old Jewish Quarter, were completely destroyed.[14]
Located in theCaucasus, at 860 metres (2,820 ft) above sea level, Tskhinvali has ahumid continental climate (Köppen:Dfb), with an average annual precipitation of 805 millimetres (31.7 in). Summers are mild and winters are cold, withsnowfalls.
Currently, Tskhinvali functions as the capital ofSouth Ossetia. Before the 2008 war it had a population of approximately 30,000.[citation needed] The town remained significantly impoverished in the absence of a permanent political settlement between the two sides in the past two decades.
^South Ossetia's status is disputed. It considers itself to be an independent state, but this is recognised byonly a few other countries. TheGeorgian government and most of the world's other states consider South Ossetiade jure a part of Georgia's territory.
^Натиев, Ф. (1873)."Цхинвали"(PDF).Кавказъ (in Russian) (36). Тифлисъ: 1f.
^"Цхинвали. Электронная еврейская энциклопедия". 4 July 2006. Retrieved21 August 2015.[...] в 1917 г. из 900 дворов — 346 были еврейскими, то есть 38,4% (грузинскими — 34,4%, армянскими — 17,7%, осетинскими — 8,8%).
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