Rustavi

Rustavi is a city in the southeast of Georgia, in the province of Kvemo Kartli, situated 25 km southeast of the capital Tbilisi. It stands on the Mtkvari River at 41°32′N 45°00′E / 41.533°N 45°E / 41.533; 45. It has a population of 116,384 and is dominated by the Rustavi Metallurgical Plant. The history of Rustavi has two phases: an early history from ancient times until the city was destroyed in the 13th century, and modern history from the Soviet era to the present. Rustavi is one of the ancient towns of Georgia. The foundation... of Rustavi is dated from time immemorial. Leonti Mroveli connects this process with the name of the glorious ancestor of Georgian people. As Leonti writes in his works "The description of the Kingdom of Georgia" Rustavi was called as Bostan-Kalaki. It was situated on the river Mtkvari and founded by the wife of Kartlos. She built a castle to the east of the mountain Iagluji. The historian Leonti Mroveli, who described the lives of the first Georgian kings, mentions the town Rustavi among those castles, which protested the troops of Alexander the Great.
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