The story
Akhaltsikheloba in Akhaltsikhe
Akhaltsikheloba, the city day of Akhaltsikhe in Samtskhe-Javakheti, is staged at Rabati Castle, a restored ninth-century fortress housing a mosque, an Orthodox church and a synagogue within its walls. The festival joins the castle's wider annual calendar of folklore and national events, combining folk performances and stalls with one of Georgia's most symbolically significant historic sites.
Akhaltsikheloba is staged against one of Georgia's more unusual historic backdrops: Rabati Castle, a sprawling ninth-century fortress complex recently restored to house a mosque, an Orthodox church, a synagogue and a historical museum within its walls, a physical arrangement that has made the castle a specific symbol of religious and cultural coexistence in this part of southern Georgia.