Ambrolauri

Ambrolauri (Georgian: ამბროლაური) is a town in western Georgia which serves as a regional capital of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti and the center of the homonymous district. As of the 2002 census, it had a population of 2,500. Ambrolauri is known from the 17th century when it served as one of the residences of the kings of Imereti. Of this royal complex, only the ruins of a church and a tower have survived. In 1769, the Imeretian king Solomon I granted this locale to the prince Zurab Machabeli who erected a tower there, which is now known as the "Machabeli tower". Ambrolauri was officially granted the status of town in 1966. It was damaged by the 1991 Racha earthquake.