Dedoplistsqaro Municipality

Dedoplistsqaro Municipality დედოფლისწყაროს მუნიციპალიტეტი
Municipality
Vashlovani National Park
Flag Seal
Location of the municipality within Georgia
Country	GEO
Region	Kakheti
Capital	Dedoplistsqaro
Government
• Body	Municipal Assembly
• Mayor	Nikoloz Janiashvili (Georgian Dream) [1]
Area
• Total	2,529 km2 (976 sq mi)
Population  (2014)
• Total	21 221
• Density	8.4/km2 (22/sq mi)
Population by ethnicity[2]
• Georgians	91.5 %
• Armenians	4.3 %
• Russians	1.8 %
• Azerbaijanis	1.4 %
• Greeks	0.3 %
Time zone	UTC+4 (Georgian Standard Time)

Dedoplistskaro or Dedoplistsqaro (Georgian: დედოფლისწყაროს მუნიციპალიტეტი, Queen's spring") is a municipality of Georgia, in the region of Kakheti. Its main town is Dedoplistsqaro.

Dedoplistskaro municipality is bordered on the west and north to Signagi Municipality, to the east and south To Azerbaijan. Dedoplistskaro municipality is the largest administrative unit of Kakheti. The area of the municipality is 2531 km2. A large part of the territory of Dedoplistskaro municipality is occupied by the Iori plateau, the Iori plateau goes to the extreme south-eastern part of the Eldri plain. The administrative center of Dedoplistskaro Municipality is the town of Dedoplistskaro, located on the Shirak plain, at an altitude of 800 m above sea level. As of 2014, the population of Dedoplistskaro is 21,221 people, of which 5,940 live in the city of Dedoplistskaro and 15,281 in rural areas.

History[]

From ancient times the territory of present-day Dedoplistskaro municipality was part of the historical province of Georgia "Kambechovani". it was sometimes part of Kakheti and sometimes of Hereti. The main city of Kambechovan was Khornabuji, which was first mentioned in the sources in 5th century AD. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Dedoplistskaro, as an administrative-territorial unit, was part of Sighnaghi Mazra.

The name "Dedoplistskaro" has been known in historical sources since the 11th century, when King David the Builder established a military post here. According to the legend, the origin of "Dedoplistskaro" is connected with the name of Queen Tamar. According to this legend, Queen Tamar visited Kambechovan with David Soslan and lived in Khornabuji for two weeks. At the top of the mountain there was spring waters. In the same year, the water was brought through clay pipes near the Khornabuji fortress and was renamed “Dedoplistskaro” (Queen's water), and later the name was extended to a village built there. In 1803, Russian troops established a military base on the site. They changed the name to “Tsarsky Kolodtsi”. Later, the Soviet authorities renamed the place Tsiteltskaro (red water). In 1991, the city and the entire district were restored to its historic name.

Geography and climate[]

Dedoplistskaro municipality is located in Kakheti region. Its administrative center is Dedoplistskaro city. Municipality from the west and north is bordered with Sighnaghi Municipality, from east and south is bordered with Azerbaijan Republic. Dedoplistskaro is the biggest administrative unit in Kakheti. The biggest part of municipality is occupied by Iori highland, which goes to the extreme south-east part, to Eldari lowland. Eldari lowland is the only place in Georgia, where semi desert landscape is developed.

The municipality territory includes the Gombori ridge south-east ending and also Alazani lowland part from the village Samtatskaro till the river Agrichai connection. Hydrological network is poorly developed in Dedoplistskaro. We meet short temporary rivers in this region. In the district are flowing following rivers: Alazani, Iori, Velijvari, Lekistskali, Uzundaraskhevi, Kushiskhevi, Ghoristskliskhevi, Kumuriskhevi, Pantishariaskhevi and others. There are some lakes as well. Kochebi lake and Patara lake are worth to mention. Dedoplistskaro is characterized with flora and fauna diversity . We meet here semi desert vegetation, also prairie, rare forests and grove forests. We must say couple words about Vashlovani National Park, which is having an amazing landscape. On the territory of municipality are spread different plants, the animals are also quite various. For example we meet here stripped hyena, gazelle, lynx, jackal, fox, wolf, Lelian's cat, badger and others. On the territory of Dedoplistskaro is developed two types of climate, in south is moderately warm steppe climate, in north is moderately humid climate. The average yearly temperature is 10,3 °C.^[3]

Politics[]

Dedoplistskaro Municipal Assembly (Georgian: დედოფლისწყაროს საკრებულო) is a representative body in Dedoplistskaro Municipality. currently consisting of 28 members. The council is assembles into session regularly, to consider subject matters such as code changes, utilities, taxes, city budget, oversight of city government and more. Dedoplistskaro sakrebulo is elected every four year. The last election was held in October 2017. ^[4]

Party		Seats	Current Municipal Assembly
	Georgian Dream	21
	UNM	3
	European Georgia	2
	Alliance of Patriots	2

Tourism and Historical sites[]

Nature[]

• Vashlovani National Park

• Chachuna Managed Reserve

• Takhtitepa mud volcanoes

• Artsivi gorge

• Didnauri

• Dali Reservoir

Cultural monuments[]

• Khornabuji Castle

• Elia Monastery

• Ozaani church

• Machkhaani Archangels church

• Mirzaani "Alaverdi" church

Settlements[]

Dedoplistsqaro is divided in next administrative units:

See also[]

• Didnauri
• Vashlovani National Park

References[]

External links[]

• Districts of Georgia, Statoids.com

Coordinates: 41°27′50″N 46°06′40″E / 41.46389°N 46.11111°E / 41.46389; 46.11111