Kharagauli

Kharagauli ხარაგაული
town	Imereti
Area
• Total	204 km2 (79 sq mi)
• Land	204 km2 (79 sq mi)
Population  (2002)
• Total	3,215
Time zone	UTC+4 (Georgian Time)
Climate	Cfa

Kharagauli center

Kharagauli (Georgian: ხარაგაული) is an administrative center of Kharagauli district in Georgia. It is situated on both banks of Chkherimela river in a narrow and deep gorge, 280-400m above the sea level.

Founding

It was founded as a railway station in the 1870s, when Poti-Tbilisi permanent way was built. So kharagauli assumed an administrative, later-an economic function.

West entrance

The most beautiful is its west entrance. In kandeshi rock beautiful and narrow gorge the river Chkherimena flows. The most attractive for foreigners are two big holes on the right bank of the river. Here a primitive man's upper Paleolithic era man's natural shelter is, called "the giant's hole". A bit aloof, on the left bank, there are giants statues, so the place is called "the giants" due to those beautiful holes.

Fortress ruins

Near the place, up the Chkherimela river gorge there is an old fortress ruins. It is a typical construction of the Middle Ages, mentioned sometimes as Khandi, or kharagauli fortress.

It was in Kharagauli fortress that the king Vakhtang VI got married.

There is a district called "small kharagauli" there, people settled here first, later - on the borough territory. On its mountain there are tombs of 14th - 11th centuries BC. There was a Jesus church, a basilica construction on the cemetery territory, now it is ruined.

Beautiful nature, pleasant people, hospitality tradition become muse for many foreigners. The Georgian "king of poets" Galaction Tabidze dedicated a poem to Kharagauli.

Administration building

There is a three-story administration building in the center of the borough. There are also culture, household, customized objects, a perfect Regional Studies Museum and a big park on the riverbank. There are three secondary schools in the region, one seminary, two kindergartens, hospital, polyclinic, library, musical school, theatre, count, post office and communication departments, wines, cognac plants. Perfect, ecologically pure cognacs Ubisa and Nunisi are produced there on "kharagauli" spring water. There is also industrial manufacturing and furniture factory.