Gori

Gori (გორი in Georgian, Гори in Russian) is a 45,557 inhabitants city at the confluence of the rivers Mtkvari and Liakhvi, in the northern part of Georgia. It's the capital of the administrative region of Shida Kartli, being close to the de facto state of South Ossetia, and the 5th largest city in the country. Gori is mainly know for being the birthplace of Joseph Stalin, one of the main leaders of the former USSR.

How do I arrive to Gori?

  Gori is well connected to other towns in Georgia by both bus and train. 

• Train: there are about 10 daily trains from Gori train station to Tbilisi (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes). There are also trains to destinations such as Borjomi, Kutaisi, Zugdidi or Batumi.
• Bus: there are marshutkas from places like Kvakhvreli (aprox. 20 minutes; only 2 km far from Uplistsikhe), Tbilisi (aprox. 1 hour), Borjomi (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes) in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, Kutaisi and Akhaltsikhe (aprox. 2 hours 30 minutes) or Batumi (aprox. 5 hours).
• Car: if you rented a car, from Gori it can be reached Urbnisi (aprox. 20 minutes), Nikozi (aprox. 40 minutes), Mtskheta (aprox. 1 hour), Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes), Tbilisi (aprox. 1 hour 25 minutes), Chiatura (aprox. 1 hour 40 minutes) and Kutaisi (aprox. 2.5 hours). It could also be reached from Tskhinvali (aprox. 1 hour) in the de facto territory of South Ossetia.
  

History

  The territory of Gori has been populated since the early Bronze Age but, according to medieval Georgian chronicles, Gori was founded by king David IV, who settled refugees from Armenia there around the 11th-12th centuries (although the fortress of Gori appears to have been in use already in the 7th century). Gori was captured by the Alan tribesmen in 1299, fleeing the Mongol conquest of their original homeland in the North Caucasus. The Georgian king George V recovered the town in 1320, pushing the Alans back over the Caucasus mountains. With the downfall of the medieval Georgian kingdom, Gori was taken by Persia in the mid-16th century (briefly passing to the Ottomans in the Ottoman-Persian War). Gori was recovered by the Georgians under Simon I of Kartli, conquered again by the Persians under Shah Abbas I in 1614. Gori returned to Georgian control under the kings Teimuraz II and Erekle II, whose efforts helped to advance economy and culture in the town. Following the Russian annexation of Georgia, Gori was granted the status of a town within the Tiflis Governorate in 1801, growing in size and population throughout the 19th century. It was destroyed in the 1920 earthquake, and almost completely rebuilt in Soviet period (also because of being the birthplace of Josef Stalin, born Iosif Vissarionovich Jughashvili), being an important industrial center in Soviet times. Gori suffered from an economic collapse and the outflow of the population during the years of a post-Soviet crisis of the 1990s. In the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, the city came under aerial attack by the Russian Air Force and then captured and occupied by the Russian military and South Ossetian separatist militia (although withdrawing some days later).
 

What can I visit in Gori?

Gori’s center was rebuilt according to Stalin's Neoclassical tastes, and even today much of the downtown area is defined by its Stalinist architecture with buildings such as Gori Drama Threater. The city has one the most magnificent and well-kept throughout the former Soviet Union Stalin Statue.

These are Gori's main attractions:

• Gori Fortress (free): medieval fortress from the 13th century that is located on a rocky hill above Gori. It was of major strategic importance and it was captured in the 16th century by the Ottomans captured it, continuing to change hands between the Georgians and the Persians since then. It acquired its present-day form under the Georgian kings Rostom of Kartli and Erekle II. It was significantly damaged by an earthquake in 1920. With fine views, it’s a good place to be around sunset. Close to the fortress is placed the Memorial of Georgian War Heroes, a circle of eight mutilated metal warriors  built in the 1980s to surround the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier but moved here to pay tribute to those lost in the 2008 war with Russia over South Ossetia.
  
• Gori Cathedral: cathedral that was originally built as a Catholic church in the 1800s, seat of the Diocese of Gori and Ateni of the Georgian Orthodox Church. It was severely damaged by the earthquake in 1920 and during Soviet times it was closed and then used as a concert hall. In 1989 it was handed to the Georgian Orthodox church and all Catholic traces were removed.
• Gori Historical-Ethnographical Museum (10-18 Tue-Sat; 3₾/ 1₾  adults/ students): museum that houses cultural and historical exhibits on Gori and Georgia, including ancient archaeological artifacts, weapons, national costumes and textiles, traditional jewelry, and furniture. It's a good place to learn how the Georgian way of life was in past eras.
• Joseph Stalin Museum (10-18 Mon-Sat from Apr to Oct; 10-17 Mon-Sat from Nov to Mar; 15₾/ 10₾  adults/ students): impressing museum on the most important character born in Gori and the most prominent and polemic leader of the Soviet Union, Josef Stain. The museum was opened in 1957 and shows the history of the leader from the local school in Gori, the leadership of the USSR, Yalta Conference to his deadth in 1953. Among the most interesting objects kept here are a letter by Lenin in which he advided Communist Party members to remove Stalin from Generary Secretary for being too power-hungry, a copy of Stalin's death mask or some gifts from world leaders. Outside the museum are kept the house where Stalin lived for the first four years of his life and Stalin's train carriage. Exhibitions on purges, gulags and Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939 were recently added. Currently the museum, as all Stalin's heritage in Georgia, is facing a lot of controversy and the visitor should be aware that the museum praises Stalin's figure.
• Erekle Baths: Persian-style bath whose origins are thought to be during the reign of king Rostom or the early 19th century. The bath is rectangular and consists of two storerooms.
• Church of St. Giorgis in Gorijvari: Georgian Orthodox medieval church that was already well known during the reign of king Alexander II of Kakheti (being built by Queen Tamar, according to folklore). The head of St. George is located inside the cross of the church, Gori Jvari (currently at the Georgian National Museum). It's believed to have miraculous powers. It was destroyed during the 1920 earthquake.
• Ruins of Tsedisi Castle: remains of a castle built around the
  10th century that was part of a system of fortresses located in the valley of the river Tan. It's severely damaged and only 4-5 m high walls are preserved.
  
• Ateni Sioni Georgian Orthodox Church (8-18): early 7th century tetraconch church. Its frescoes are one of the best examples of the Georgian painting, going back to the late-11th century. Each apse contains its own iconographic cycle, showing dynamic and colourful figures. The walls of the church contain numerous inscriptions, among them the earliest known in Nuskhuri (one of the versions of the early Georgian alphabet, dating from 835) and the earliest known examples of Mkhedruli (currently used Georgian script from the 980s). It's close to river Tana in Ateni Gorge, in the village of Ateni (only 12 km far from Gori). 
• Close to Ateni Sioni Church, in the village of Didi Ateni (დიდი ატენი in Georgian), there's the Didi Ateni Georgian Orthodox Church. This building is a small domed church from the 7th-9th centuries that is also known as Orbeliani Church.
  

Gori Fortress

Joseph Stalin Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uplistsikhe

On the outskirts of Gori, 10 km east from the town, there's the Uplistsikhe (10-19 from Apr to Oct, 10-18 from Nov to Mar; 7₾/ 1₾  adults/ students), a once enormous cave city above Mtkvari river that is placed on the tentative list for inclusion into the UNESCO World Heritage program (widely regarded as one of the top touristic attractions of Georgia). The city once housed around 20,000 people and was one of the political and religious centers of Kartli between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD. Uplistsikhe was the seat of the Christian kings of Kartli once the Arabs conquered Tbilisi in the year 645, losing importance when Tbilisi was retaken and destroyed by the Mongols in 1240. The complex is full of several important cave structures such as the threater carved in the rock with an arched-shape (a temple from the 1st-2nd century AD), the Temple of Makvliani (pre-Christian temple), the tunnel that was used as an emergency escape route or the big hall known as Tamaris Darbazi (area that is thought to be another temple, whose ceiling is carved to look like wooden beams). There's also a more recent building, Uplitsikhe Church, that was built in the 10th century over a previous pagan temple. Not far from Gori it can be found Kvakhvreli Cave Complex. This site was the agricultural suburb of Uplistsikhe and it has a medieval cave church too.

Inscriptions in Urbnisi Cathedral

Around Gori there are some places that are worth to be visited. Driving 17 km west there's the small town of Urbnisi (ურბნისი in Georgian), with 1,109 inhabitants, that was the second most important city in Iberian Kingdom (after Mtskheta). The main sightseeing point is Urbnisi Cathedral, a Georgian Orthodox catheral originally built in the 6th century and reconstructed in the 10th and 17th centuries. The three-nave basilica has several inscriptions on its walls (some being among the oldest executed in the Georgian alphabet, from the 5th-6th centuries). Close to Urbnisi can also be found Ruisi Cathedral, a Georgian Orthodox church that was rebuilt in the 15th century (though it was first built in the 8th-9th centuries), with a tall dome and a horseshoe apse on the east. It's known in the history of Georgia as the place of coronation of the boy-king George II in 1055 and for being the location of the landmark church council convened by king David IV in 1103. It keeps visible fragments of the late medieval frescoes in part of the interior and a fine ornamentated cornices.

Nikozi Cathedral

Just in the border with the de facto state of South Ossetia it's located the 643 inhabitants village of Nikozi (ნიქოზი in Georgian), one of Georgia's oldest villages. It's home of Nikozi Cathedral, also known as Ghvtaeba, a medieval Georgian Orthodox cathedral from the 14th-16th centuries that is the seat of the Georgian Orthodox Eparchy of Nikozi and Tskhinvali. The first church was built here, where St. Razhden the Protomartyr is said to be buried, around the 5th century. Its walls are faced with hewn stone slabs and the interior is plastered, although keeping some several badly damaged inscriptions on its walls. It is part of the complex which also includes a bell-tower, an episcopal palace (dating back to the 9th-10th centuries that resulted very damaged in the Russo-Georgian War), and a circuit wall. . Here it's also located Mtavarangelozis Georgian Orthodox Church, a 10th century small domed church whose construction is attributed to Bishop Mikael, according to a Georgian asomtavruli script on the north wall. It survived heavily damaged to the Russo-Georgian War of 2008.

 

Samtavisi Cathedral

Using Tbilisi-Senaki-Leselidze Highway, the visitor could stop to visit a 9th-10th-century hall church, St. Nino Georgian Orthodox Church in Aghaiani. It stands at the place of one of the three wooden crosses erected by St. Nino to mark adoption of Christianity in Kartli. In the way towards Mtskheta, 35 km east from Gori and quite close to South Ossetia, it's located the village of Igoeti (იგოეთი in Georgian), 559 inhabitants. Here it can be visited Igoeti Georgian Orthodox Church, a small medieval church restored in the 1980s. Another attraction in the village is Grakliani Hill, an archaeological excavation site that shows evidence of human presence going back 300,000 years. It contains a temple to a fertility goddess from the 7th century BC (that has a cript with no resemblance to any alphabet known), a pit-type burial cemetery from the early Bronze Age, and artifacts (including children's toys or weapons). Around this village it can be found the impressing Samtavisi Cathedral, one of the centers of the Eparchy of Samtavisi and Gori. This 11th century Georgian Orthodox cathedral is the founder of the Georgian interpretation of the cross-in-square churches (a one of its typical examples too). The foundation of the temple is said to date back to Isidore Samtavneli, one of the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers, in the 6th century. The exterior has some relieves and inscriptions on its façades while its interior has some remains of 11th century and 17th century frescoes. A noble house, the Amilakhvari, played significant role in the history of the cathedral and in the whole area as duke (tavadi) family. The first of the residences of the family was Skhvilo Castle, 14th century castle along a ridge very close to South Ossetia. Its structure is rectangular and is relatively well preserved. Then they moved their residence to Kvemo Chala, where it's placed Amilakhvari Castle. This palace complex that belonged to the Amilakhvari family, dating back to the 17th-18th centuries, and currently only the main castle and the fragments of the other two existing castles remain.

Where can I eat in Gori?

  Gori doesn't have an impressing culinary scene but there are some places where eating in a good way such as the following cafes and restaurants, specialised in Georgian food: the restaurant Shin da Gori (Rusudan Kurdadze 1), Resto-Bar Black Stars (Besarion Jughashvili 13) or Cafe 22 (Stalinis Gamziri 22).

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