Khulo

Khulo (Georgian: ხულო [χulo]) is a townlet (daba) in Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia, 88 km east of the regional capital Batumi, in the upper valley of the Adjaristsqali River. The town and adjoining 78 villages form the mountainous Khulo District (Raion), which has an area of 710 km² and a population of 23,327. It is inhabited by Adjarians, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians.

The town, formerly known as Khula and Hulo, was a merchant place located on a medieval road that linked the neighboring region of Samtskhe-Javakheti to the Black Sea coast. The Khulo area has been inhabited since ancient times, almost from the Bronze Age. Cult monuments include the Thilvani Menhir, a simple megalith building/vertical column about 20 meters tall that archaeologists think was connected to a funeral ritual. Another monument, the Kaloto Altar was found in Khulo, confirming the existence of civilization in the Khulo region in pre-Christian times. The site was built up in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the many surviving churches, castles, and medieval arched bridges.