1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Akhaltsikh

AKHALTSIKH (Georgian Akhaltsikhe, “new fortress”), a fortified town of Russian Transcaucasia, government of Tiths, 68 m. E. of Batum, in 41° 40′ N. lat., 43° 1′ E. long., on a tributary of the Kura, at an altitude of 3375 ft. The new town is on the right bank of the river, while the old town and the fortress are on the opposite bank. There is trade in silk, honey and wax, and brown coal is found in the neighbourhood. The silver filigree work is famous. Pop. (1897) 15,387, of whom many were Armenians, as against 15,977 in 1867. From 1579 to 1828 Akhaltsikh was the capital of Turkish Armenia. In the last-mentioned year it was captured by the Russians. The Turks invested it in 1853.