South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
The village is situated in the Great Liakhvi River valley. Tradition holds it that the modern-day village was founded by the medieval queen Tamar of Georgia (1284-1212) as a small town. Hence, the settlement’s name, literally meaning "built by Tamar". It was formerly part of the late medieval Georgian princedom of Samachablo (literally, "the estate of the Machabeli [family]") and then of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (abolished in 1990). Populated mostly by ethnic Georgians, the village lies within the ongoing Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, and remained under the Government of Georgia’s control till the 2008 South Ossetia War.