Mcʻxetʻa (Georgia)

Mtskheta (Georgian: მცხეთა, romanized: mtskheta [ˈmtsʰχetʰa]) is a city in the region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Georgia. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia as well as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is located approximately 20 km (12 mi) north of Tbilisi, at the confluence of the Kura and Aragvi rivers. Currently a small provincial capital, for nearly a millennium until the 5th century AD, Mtskheta was a large fortified city and a significant economic and political center of the Kingdom of Iberia. Due to the historical significance of the town and its several outstanding churches and cultural monuments, the "Historical Monuments of Mtskheta" became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. As the birthplace and one of the most vibrant centers of Christianity in Georgia, Mtskheta was declared the "Holy City" by the Georgian Orthodox Church in 2014. In 2016, the Historical Monuments of Mtskheta were placed by UNESCO under Enhanced Protection, a mechanism established by the 1999 Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.