Tamarasheni (Georgian თამარაშენი, Ossetian Tamares) is a former village in the Republic of South Ossetia, the nearest settlement from Tskhinvali to the north (the southern outskirts of Tamarasheni without any border passed into Tskhinvali Street). The village was located on the Transcaucasian highway. The territory of the village de jure became part of the city of Tskhinvali.

History
It is believed that the village was founded by the medieval Georgian queen St. Tamara (d. 1212), hence its name (“Tamarasheni” means “built by Tamara”).

During the 1989-1992 conflict
Tamarasheni was one of the four large villages that formed the “Georgian enclave” on the Transcaucasian highway. During the conflict of 1989-1992, during the siege of Tskhinval, the Ossetian population (up to 10%) of these villages was expelled, at the same time, at the very beginning of the conflict, the Georgian and Jewish population was expelled from the Ossetian enclaves and from Tskhinvali. Communication with Tskhinval was carried out along the Zar bypass road, the path along the later open part of the Transkam was dangerous for the Ossetians.
During the South Ossetian war of 1991-1992, the Georgians managed to keep the village. During the conflict, the house-museum of Ivane Machabeli was blown up.

In the 2000s
In 2004 there was an aggravation of Georgian-Ossetian relations. In particular, on August 12, according to the statement of the chairman of the information and press committee of South Ossetia, Irina Gagloyeva, Tskhinval was intensively shelled from the side of the village of Tamarasheni from automatic weapons, mortars and anti-aircraft guns. According to the command of the Georgian peacekeepers, houses of residents of three villages (including Tamarasheni) were fired from large-caliber weapons, and some houses were seriously damaged, and Georgian peacekeepers returned fire.
On September 15, according to the Information and Press Committee of South Ossetia, from 5:15 Moscow time from the village of Tamarasheni, an unaimed grenade launcher was fired along the Liakhva River for half an hour. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia categorically denied the fact of the shelling of Ossetian villages from the positions of Georgian peacekeepers in the village.
On November 7, 2004, an exchange of hostages took place in the village, about 40 people were released from both sides.
On May 29, 2005, 4 South Ossetian servicemen and 1 Georgian policeman were killed in the village.
June 30, 2007, according to I. Gagloeva, from 13:00 to 16:10 Moscow time from Tamarasheni Tskhinval was shelled from mortars and small arms. Also, from the side of Tamarasheni, the Ossetian village of Kvernet was fired upon.
October 13, 2007 in Tamarasheni was organized by the Georgian authorities and the Ossetian movement “Kokoyty, fandarast!” concert of the group “Boney M.”

2008 Armed Conflict
On June 11, at 23:00, the northern outskirts of Tskhinval were shelled from the direction of Tamarasheni. The shelling was carried out for 10 minutes from grenade launchers and small arms.
On August 1, at 10 p.m., shelling of Tskhinval began, according to several residents of the city, from rocket launchers located in a number of Georgian settlements, including the village of Tamarasheni. The shelling was stopped on August 2 at 11 o’clock.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reported that on August 7 at 22:10 a massive fire was opened on the village. However, the former head of the State Chancellery of Georgia, Petr Mamradze, claims that refugees from Georgian villages deny the fact that Georgian villages were shelled on the evening of August 7. Journalists from The New York Times reported on November 7: “In Tamarasheni, some residents say that on the evening of August 7 they were lightly shelled, but felt safe enough and did not return to the basements. Others say there was no shelling until 9 August.”
According to Infox.ru, during the conflict, the Georgian enclave, which included the village, was turned into a fortified area.

On August 9, the Russian military began an assault on the Georgian positions located in the village.
After the Georgian military were driven out of the village by units of the 58th Army, the Ossetians went there to take revenge. According to the Ossetians, Georgian houses were destroyed because of the fear of the possible return of Georgian refugees. Most of the residents were evacuated to Gori a few days before the start of the conflict. The rest were taken prisoner to be exchanged for Ossetians taken away by the Georgian military.
The following were destroyed or damaged: a shopping complex, a hospital, a branch of the Bank of Georgia, a cinema, a Lukoil gas station.
On August 13, human rights organization Human Rights Watch stated that Ossetian militias were looting and burning Georgian villages in South Ossetia, including the village of Tamarasheni. And Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili called Tamarasheni “a new Srebrenica” because, according to him, a concentration camp for ethnic Georgians living in South Ossetia was organized in the village.
According to satellite imagery, conducted by the International Scientific Institute UNOSAT, as of August 24, 177 objects were destroyed in the village of Tamarasheni, according to the chairman of the Parliament of South Ossetia, all the houses of the Georgian population were burned.
On November 29, 2008, at a meeting of the temporary commission of the Georgian parliament, Mikheil Saakashvili stated that the actions of the Georgian army were aimed at protecting the Georgian population of Tamarasheni, Kurta, Kekhvi and other villages: “I think the main withdrawal of the population was carried out through the ring road, since I am carefully observed, but the ring road could very easily come under attack near the village of Dmanisi, from several other points, among them, from Tskhinvali in the direction of Tamarasheni, it was very easy to fire at and without suppressing these firing points, the withdrawal of the population would have been impossible if not for the actions of our army, in reality, we would have tens of thousands or thousands of victims today, we would have received a new Srebrenica, because the people who entered treated the remaining population, as Karadzic and Mladic did in Srebrenica with the remaining population. In fact, we pulled these people out of their mouths.”

After 2009
On the part of the territory of the village, where there was a destroyed rabbit farm and wild grapes grew, the Moscow microdistrict was built.
According to the press secretary of the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Tsoi, 97 Georgian anti-personnel mines were removed from the built-up area.
According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, on the site of the burned and abandoned villages of Tamarasheni and Achabeti, it was planned to build an airport with an extended runway capable of receiving heavy transport aircraft.

Culture
In Tamarasheni there was a house-museum of a local native, Prince Ivane Machabeli (1854-1898), a famous Georgian writer and translator of Shakespeare into Georgian. After the 2008 war, the house-museum was completely destroyed.