Bolnisi (, ), is a city in the country of Georgia, located in the Kvemo Kartli region and capital of the Bolnisi district. It currently has an estimated 13,800 inhabitants. History Bolnisi was settled by 95 German colonist families from Swabia in 1818, whilst part of the Georgia Governorate of the Russian Empire. Upon the arrival of the German colonists, the town was renamed Yekaterinenfeld (; ) in honor of the sister of Tsar Alexander I, Ekaterina Pavlovna, who was married to the King of Württemberg. Some eight years later, Yekaterinenfeld was pillaged by what were described as "Tartars", who burned down the German colony and massacred many of its inhabitants. In the early 20th century, Yekaterinenfeld had a mainly German and Russian population of 2,332. Following the Russian Revolution and the Sovietization of Georgia in 1921, Yekaterinenfeld was eponymously renamed to Luxemburg () for the renown German communist Rosa Luxemburg. In 1941, in accordance with Stalin's callous policy on ethnic groups, all Germans residents of Luxemburg who were not married to ethnic Georgians were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. On 3 April 1943, the town was finally renamed to Bolnisi, which remained unchanged after the fall of the Soviet Union. On 31 December 1967, the settlement of Bolnisi received the status of a city. In 1980, the city water supply network was built. An airfield near the city was reported to have been bombed by Russia on August 8, 2008, during the Russia-Georgia war. Economy The main occupations of the colonist Germans were viticulture, horticulture, fruit growing and cattle breeding. At the same time, irrigation, underground drainage and irrigation canals were constructed in Yekaterinenfeld, as well as wine, cognac and cheese factories, and leather and furniture factories. The town's contemporary economy is mostly agrarian with the notable exceptions of a winery, brewery, and a gold mine in the nearby village of Kazreti. Religion and Cultural Heritage Bolnisi has long been the seat of a bishop or archbishop, and is the home of the oldest dated Christian structure in Georgia. It is known as Bolnisi Sioni (Sioni being Georgian for Zion and a designation used by many of their churches). This three-nave basilica church dates to the 5th century AD and features some pagan elements in its stonework. The original roof is missing but has been replaced with a modern covering. A dedication Bolnisi inscriptions from the Bolnisi church, carved