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Kartli, the central region of Georgia, which has always been the heart of Georgia, is the country's orchard and spangled with historical monuments. Kartli is the largest and the most important region in Georgia and even gave the Georgian name for the country “Sakartvelo” . In earlier times the infamous North Route of the Silk Road passed though Kartli. Uplistsikhe, an entire town constructed of sandstone rock was first inhabited in prehistoric times and was also an important trade center on the historic Silk Road, well until the 12th century. Both the ancient and the new capital of Georgia - Mtskheta and Tbilisi - are located in Lower Kartli. Southwest of Tbilisi, beneath the ruins of at the medieval town of Dmanisi, the 1.75 million year old first Europaen was found. In Bolnisi, at Bolnisi Sioni, the earliest lapidary inscriptions surviving in Georgia are preserved. |
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