Ambrolauri

Ambrolauri is the administrative centre of Racha, a small town on the Rioni in a green mountain valley, and it is best known for what grows around it: the villages of Khvanchkara and its neighbours produce a naturally semi-sweet red wine from the alexandrouli and mujuretuli grapes, made without added sugar by arresting fermentation in the cold, and it carries the name of the village. A large concrete wine bottle stands at the entrance to the town as a monument to it. There is a small museum, a market and wooden houses along the river, and the town is the base for upper Racha, Nikortsminda and the roads toward Oni and the high valleys.

History

The name Ambrolauri is known from the 17th century: the Russian diplomat Alexey Yevlev, who visited Imereti in 1650, and Prince Vakhushti, writing around 1745, mention a royal castle here where the Krikhula joins the Rioni, of which only slight ruins remain, and the place may earlier have been the Metekhara named in an 11th-century charter of Nikortsminda Cathedral. In 1769 King Solomon I of Imereti granted Ambrolauri to Prince Zurab Machabeli, and an old three-storey tower of stone and lime is still called the Machabeli Tower; a hoard of hundreds of coins buried early in the 17th century was found in 1909. After 1810 it belonged to the Racha district, it gained city status in 1966, it was damaged by the Racha earthquake of 1991, and in 1995 it became the seat of the regional administration of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti (Wikipedia, Ambrolauri).

Highlights

• The Khvanchkara wine district - alexandrouli and mujuretuli grapes in the villages.
• The giant bottle monument - the concrete landmark at the town entrance.
• Wooden houses along the Rioni - the town on its river.
• A base for Racha - roads out to Nikortsminda, Oni and the high valleys.

When to go

May to October; autumn brings the harvest and the best colour in the valleys. Half a day is enough for the town itself, more if you use it as a base. Winter roads into Racha are difficult.

Things to know

The town itself is small and plain. Wine sold under the Khvanchkara name is widely counterfeited; buy from producers in the villages. Roads in the region are rough and have been affected by landslides. Services are limited.

Nearby

Nikortsminda is west; Oni lies east up the valley.

Key facts