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Official visitor guide


Khulo Municipality

Upper Tkhilvana village, Khikhani Fortress (XII-XIII)

This beautiful part of the Ajaran highland is distinguished by richness of its nature, cultural sites and historical past.

The territory of the municipality is mountainous and is spread 400-3.007 m. above the sea level. It includes the Marsiani Range (Mount Kanli at 3.007 m) and the Meskheti Range (Mount Zotimeria at 2.646 m). The average annual temperature ranges between 1-10 oC, and the annual precipitation reaches between 1.000-1.200 mm.

The Khulo municipality is bordered by Turkey on the South, Shuakhevi on the West, the Ozurgeti municipality on the Northwest, the Chokhatauri municipality on the North and the Adigeni municipality on the East. Khulo is the administrative center with one small town, 12 communities and 78 villages.

Khulo is rich in various mineral resources (construction and paving stones, petrified wood stoc) and mineral waters (Khikhadziri, Danisparauli, Saani, Dioknisi, etc.).

The following rivers flow along the municipality territory: Acharistskali, Skhalta, Ghorjomi, Diakonidzeebi. The beautiful Green Lake is located here as well.

Khulo is composed of mount-forest and mount-meadow soils. Mostly deciduous and coniferous trees and plants predominate here. Among the flora representatives the most common are: royal fern, yew, Georgian maple, chestnut, oak, walnut, Colchis cyclamen, primrose, asp, elm, etc. Khulo is also rich in fruits and medicinal herbs. Fauna are represented by Caucasian deer, Caucasian brown bear, eagle, francolin, Caucasian snowcock, Asia Minor triton and Caucasian salamander.

"Kartlis Tskhovreba", the oldest source of Georgia history, has preserved a very interesting and significant fact, this being that after the Ascension of Christ, St. Mary chose the apostle Andrew to disseminate Christianity in Georgia (the country of her patronage) and gave him her icon as a guardian. After converting the local Trabzon population to Christianity, St. Andrew established a church structure in Ajara together with Simon the Canaanite and Mathias. He rested the icon of the Virgin in the village of Didachara and built the first church there with the name of Archangel. One of the stones read as follows: "Here the first apostles of Christ - Andrew the First-Called, Simon the Canaanite and Mathias - built the first Christian Church in Georgia". The locals call this place Mount Tarangilo (Archangel).

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