Telavi

Telavi is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 19,629 inhabitants as of the year 2014. The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombori Range at 500–800 m 1,600–2,600 ft above sea level. The first archaeological findings from Telavi date back to the Bronze Age. One of the earliest surviving accounts of Telavi is from the 2nd century AD, by Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemaeus, who mentions the name Teleda a reference to Telavi. Telavi began to transform into a fairly important and large political and administrative center in the 8th century. Interesting information on Telavi is provided in the records by an Arab

geographer, Al-Muqaddasi of the 10th century, who mentions Telavi along with such important cities of that time's Caucasus as Tbilisi, Shamkhor, Ganja, Shemakha and Shirvan. Speaking about the population of Telavi, Al-Muqaddasi points out that for the most part it consisted of Christians.