Lentekhi

Lentekhi ლენტეხი
Lentekhi ლენტეხი
Coordinates:
Country	Georgia
Mkhare	Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti
Area
• Total	1,344 km2 (519 sq mi)
Population (2002)
• Total	1,700
Time zone	Georgian Time (UTC+4)

Lentekhi (Georgian: ლენტეხი) is a small town and Lentekhi District's (Raion) capital in Georgia's western region of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, 323 km northwest to the nation's capital Tbilisi. Situated on the southern slope of the Central Caucasus, the district is a site of alpinism.

Lentekhi ethnographically belongs to a historic Georgian province of Lower, or Kvemo Svaneti. Cultural heritage of the area includes several monuments, particularly St George's Church of Jgëræg (the 10th century), the Archangel Church of Thargizel (the 9-10th centuries), Tekal Church (the 10-11th centuries), Lentekhi Castle of the Dadiani, and the famous Svanetian towers in the village Leksuri.

There is a river that goes through the town and the its inhabitants survive largely off of farming and lumber, though in recent years government restrictions have slowed this latter industry. Like in much of Georgia, tourism is seen as the future source of income as the weather in lower Svaneti is not as severe and Lentekhi is one of the larger towns before arriving in Mestia. Nevertheless, as in much of Svaneti, there has been a tendency for the younger generation to migrate to the larger cities or to find work overseas for economic reasons.

Every spring, there is a festival at the Church high in the mountain above the town. There is a singing hall and one restaurant next to the river which serves traditional food of the region to travelers and sometimes locals. A spring flows from the mountainside with fresh mineral water of which the town consistently drinks.

See also

• Subdivisions of Georgia

External links

• Images of Svaneti