Guria

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Guria
გურია
Mkhare (region)
Guria, Region in Georgia.jpg
Bakhmaro2019maystil.jpg
Shemokmedi monastery, Guria, Georgia-5.jpg
Kolkheti National Park.jpg
baxviscqali2020.jpg
From the top to bottom-right: Landscape of Guria, Bakhmaro, Shemokmedi Monastery, Kolkheti National Park, Bakhvistsqali River
Guria in Georgia.svg
CountryFlag of Georgia.svg  Georgia
Main City Ozurgeti
Municipalities3
Government
 • Governor Zurab Nasaraia
Area
 • Total
2,033 km2 (785 sq mi)
Population
 (2023) [1]
 • Total
104,338
 • Density51/km2 (130/sq mi)
Gross Regional Product
[2]
 • Total ₾ 1.04 billion (2022)
 • Per Capita ₾ 9,934 (2022)
ISO 3166 code GE-GU
HDI (2021)0.759 [3]
high · 2nd

Guria (Georgian :გურია) is a region ( mkhare ) in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 104,338 (2023), [4] with Ozurgeti as the regional capital.

Contents

Geography

Guria is bordered by Samegrelo to the north-west, Imereti to the north, Samtskhe-Javakheti to the east, Ajaria to the south, and the Black Sea to the west. The province has an area of 2,033 km2 (785 sq mi).

Guria is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.

Administrative divisions

Relief map of Guria Georgia Guria relief location map.svg
Relief map of Guria
Subdivision of Guria GR-ka.svg
Subdivision of Guria

Guria is divided into 4 entities (3 municipalities and 1 city), including:

History

Coat of arms of the Principality of Guria

The territory that is now Guria was part of the kingdom of Colchis, best known in the West for the tale of the Golden Fleece. Following the collapse of the Colchian Kingdom it became part of the Kingdom of Lazica in the first century BC. [5] In antiquity the area was a significant source of iron, as early as the fifth century BC, and also copper and gold. [6]

The toponym "Guria" is first attested in the c. 800 Georgian chronicle of Pseudo-Juansher. [7]

Historical Guria in modern international borders of Georgia Historical Guria in modern international borders of Georgia.svg
Historical Guria in modern international borders of Georgia

Guria first appears c. 1352 as a fief of the house of Vardanidze-Dadiani; and after 1463 it became a sovereign principality independent of the Kingdom of Georgia under a branch of that house, known thereafter by the name of Gurieli. The principality, comprising modern Guria and much of Adjara with the city of Batumi, was subsequently reduced in size and devastated in a series of conflicts with the Ottoman Empire. A Russian protectorate was established by the treaty concluded on June 19, 1810 between Mamia V Gurieli and the empire, and in 1829, during the regency for the last prince, the Gurieli David, the principality was annexed by Russia. [8]

There were uprisings against Russian rule in 1819 and again in 1841. In 1840, Guria was made a county ( uyezd ) and renamed Ozurgeti, after one of its main towns. In 1846, it was transferred to the new Kutais Governorate. By 1904, the population was just under 100,000, occupying an area of approximately 532,000 acres (2,150 km2) of mountains and swampy valleys, covered by corn fields, vineyards, and some tea plantations. It was the most ethnically homogenous of Georgian areas, with the peasantry and lesser rural nobility making up almost the entire population, with a high level of literacy and a relatively high degree of economic self-satisfaction. The peasant protest movement, which originated in 1902 and culminated in an open insurrection against the government during the Russian Revolution of 1905, was the most effective and organized peasant movement in the empire. The peasants’ self-government, the so-called Gurian Republic, survived into 1906, when it was crushed and Guria devastated by the Cossack punitive expedition. [9] The region was a native powerbase of the Georgian Social Democratic (Menshevik) Party which dominated the Democratic Republic of Georgia from 1918 to 1921. Guria was a scene of guerrilla resistance to the militarily imposed Soviet rule early in the 1920s. Under the Soviet government, Guria was an agrarian area divided into three administrative districts. In 1995, the Georgian government decreed the creation of the region ( mkhare ) of Guria, restoring the province's historical name to official usage.

The Orthodox churches of Likhauri and Shemokmedi are the main historical buildings in the province.

Etymology

Gomismta and the Lesser Caucasus mountains (Guria region) Gomismta and the Lesser Caucasus mountains.jpg
Gomismta and the Lesser Caucasus mountains (Guria region)

Some say that the root of the word [Guria] refers to restlessness and the word should mean “the land of the restless” and is associated with events during the eighth and ninth centuries when “Leon became the King of Abkhazeti. Guruls (governor of Guria) refused to obey the ruler of Odzrakho, ceased their vassal relations with Adarnase and Ashot Bagrationi and united with Leon” as it was described in Vakhushti Bagrationi’s historical works of the eighteenth century. [10]

According to a later explanation, in the times of Georgia’s prosperity, when its borders stretched from "Nikopsia to Daruband", Guria was situated in the heart of the Georgian territory. [10]

The linguistic evidence for the above hypothesis is the Megrelian word for “heart” – “guri” (Georgian: “guli”).

Economy

Subtropic farming and tourism are a mainstay of the region's economy. Water is one of Guria's main assets. The province is famous for the mineral water of Nabeglavi, which is similar to Borjomi in its chemical composition, and the Black Sea health resort of Ureki, which is rich in magnetic sand. Guria is also one of the largest tea growing regions in Georgia.

Demographics

Ethnic and religious groups

According to the 2014 census, Guria has a population of 113.350 inhabitants, which accounts for 3.1% of the total population of Georgia. 98% of the population is ethnic Georgian (mostly native Gurians), 1% is ethnic Armenian and the remaining 1% is composed of Russians and Ukrainians and the majority of the population is Orthodox Christians (87%), followed by Islam (11%).

Gurians

A Gurian man. Gurian (B).jpg
A Gurian man.

The Gurians or Gurulebi (Georgian: გურულები) is one of the ethnographical groups of Georgians, inhabiting Guria. Gurians are Orthodox Christian and speak the Gurian dialect of the Georgian language. [11]

Politics

Administration

The administration centre is Ozurgeti. There are 194 populated areas, including:

Governors

To date, the following politicians have held the office of Governor of Guria:

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principality of Guria</span> Historical state in the Caucasus

The Principality of Guria was a historical state in Georgia. Centered on modern-day Guria, a southwestern region in Georgia, it was located between the Black Sea and Lesser Caucasus, and was ruled by a succession of twenty-two princes of the House of Gurieli from the 1460s to 1829. The principality emerged during the process of fragmentation of a unified Kingdom of Georgia. Its boundaries fluctuated in the course of permanent conflicts with neighboring Georgian rulers and the Ottoman Empire, and the principality enjoyed various degrees of autonomy until being annexed by Imperial Russia in 1829.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Gurieli</span> Georgian noble family

The House of Gurieli was a Georgian princely (mtavari) family and a ruling dynasty (dukes) of the southwestern Georgian province of Guria, which was autonomous and later, for a few centuries, independent. A few ducal rulers of the dynasty also rose in the 17th-18th centuries to be kings of the whole western Caucasus in place of the hereditary Bagrationi kings of Imereti.

Giorgi III Gurieli, of the Georgian House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1669 to 1684 and King of Imereti from 1681 to 1683. He was energetically involved in civil wars in western Georgian polities, which he sought to bring under his sway. He was killed in battle while trying to recover the lost throne of Imereti.

Mamia III Gurieli, also known as Mamia the Great Gurieli or the Black Gurieli, of the western Georgian House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1689 to 1714. Involved in civil wars plaguing western Georgia, he became King of Imereti three times in the years of 1701, 1711–1712, and 1713–1714. After his first reign as king for a year in 1701, he abdicated the throne of Imereti, being unable to tolerate the influence of his father-in-law Giorgi Abashidze. Subsequent periods of his royal career was the result of a feud with Giorgi VII of Imereti. Mamia died while still sitting on the throne of Imereti, which then reverted to his rival Giorgi VII.

George IV Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1711 to 1726, and a king of Imereti in western Georgia in 1716. He was installed as regent of Guria by his father, Mamia III Gurieli, then the king of Imereti, in 1712. In 1716, he seized the crown of Imereti, but was forced to abandon the enterprise later that year. Returning to Guria, his rule was challenged by a faction of local nobility, which included his mother Elene and brother Kaikhosro III Gurieli. He was finally able to crush the opposition after making peace with Bezhan Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ozurgeti Municipality</span> Municipality in Guria, Georgia

Ozurgeti is a municipality of Georgia, in the region of Guria. Its main town is Ozurgeti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chokhatauri Municipality</span> Place in Guria, Georgia

Chokhatauri is a district of Georgia, in the region of Guria. Its largest city and administrative centre is Chokhatauri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebellion in Guria (1841)</span> Conflict in the former Georgian principality of Guria

The Rebellion in Guria (1841) was a conflict in the former Georgian principality of Guria, at that time part of the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate of the Russian Empire, that took place as a reaction to the government's newly introduced duties and taxes for the Georgian peasants. The rebels, joined by several nobles, were initially successful in overrunning much of Guria, but they were finally defeated by the Imperial Russian Army and the allied Georgian nobility in September 1841.

Ivane Abashidze was a Georgian nobleman of the Abashidze family and a claimant to the throne of Imereti during the revolt against the Russian rule in 1820. He was murdered in exile in the Ottoman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shekvetili</span> Village in Guria, Georgia

Shekvetili is a village and sea resort in Ozurgeti Municipality, Guria, Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast, at the mouth of the Natanebi river. Shekvetili is home to the popular amusement park Tsitsinatela, large indoor venue Black Sea Arena, the Miniature Park, an open-air exhibition of scale models of Georgia's architectural landmarks, and a dendrological park. The arboretum has been created by the Georgian politician and business oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, but has met with protests from environmentalists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shemokmedi</span> Village in Guria, Georgia

Shemokmedi is a village in the Ozurgeti Municipality, Guria, Georgia. It is located in western Georgia, on the Bzhuzhi river, at elevation of 190 m above sea level, 7 km east of the city of Ozurgeti. The village is home to the late medieval Shemokmedi Monastery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shemokmedi Monastery</span> Georgian Orthodox monastery in Shemokmedi, Georgia

The Shemokmedi monastery is a Georgian Orthodox monastery located at the village of Shemokmedi in Georgia's southwestern region of Guria. Founded in the 15th century, the Shemokmedi monastery functioned as a seat of a bishopric and burial ground of the Gurieli princely dynasty. It was a safe-house of church treasures and, over the centuries, had accumulated an extensive collection of various objects from other Georgian monasteries. Parts of the collection, which survived the 19th-century robbers, are now on display in Georgia's museums.

Giorgi I Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was eristavi ("duke") and then mtavari ("prince") of Guria from 1483 until his death in 1512.

Mamia I Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1512 until his death in 1534. Succeeding on the death of his father Giorgi I Gurieli, Mamia became involved in the conflict between the two eastern Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti in 1520; by force of arms, he compelled David X of Kartli to agree on peace with Levan of Kakheti, his son-in-law. Mamia Gurieli's 1533 campaign, jointly with his namesake Prince of Mingrelia, against the homebase of Circassian pirates ended in a fiasco, with Mamia being captured and ransomed later that year.

Rostom Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1534 until his death in 1564. Alongside his royal suzerain, Bagrat III of Imereti, Rostom fought against the expanding Ottoman Empire to which he lost parts of his principality. Rostom's relations with Bagrat III subsequently deteriorated over his support to the king's defiant vassal, Levan I Dadiani.

Giorgi II Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1564 to 1583 and again from 1587 to 1600. Succeeding on the death of his father Rostom Gurieli, Giorgi's rule over his small principality, located in southwest Georgia, was a period of conflict with the neighboring Dadiani of Mingrelia and increasing assertiveness of the Ottomans whom Gurieli submitted in 1581. His reign was interrupted, from 1583 to 1587, by a Mingrelian invasion, but Giorgi was able to resume the throne with Ottoman support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mamia II Gurieli</span> Prince of Guria

Mamia II Gurieli (-1625/1627) is a 17th-century Georgian prince that ruled over the Principality of Guria in Western Georgia. Son of Prince George II, he succeeded his father in 1600 after spending a decade as head of Gurian troops. As Prince, he distinguished himself as a staunch supporter of closer relations with other Georgian states and an enemy of the Ottoman Empire. However, his policy failed as he was forced to remain under Turkish influence, while his ties with the Kingdom of Imereti progressively declined until an armed conflict and his assassination in 1625.

Kaikhosro I Gurieli, of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1626 to 1658. He was installed by Levan II Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, in place of his deposed predecessor Simon I Gurieli. In his turn, Kaikhosro was overthrown and expelled by King Alexander III of Imereti. His comeback to Guria, in an Ottoman-supported endeavor, concluded with his assassination by a Gurian nobleman.

Malakia Gurieli, of the Georgian House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1684 to 1685 and again in 1689. A younger son of Kaikhosro I Gurieli, he succeeded on the death of his brother Giorgi III Gurieli in 1684, only to be overthrown and blinded by his nephew Kaikhosro II Gurieli. Briefly restored through the Ottoman intervention in 1689, he was deposed by Guria's nobility for incompetence. Malakia entered the priesthood and became Bishop of Shemokmedi.

Kaikhosro IV Gurieli was a member of the House of Gurieli, a ruling dynasty of the Principality of Guria in western Georgia, which he de facto ruled as regent for his underage nephew Mamia V Gurieli from 1797 to 1809. An energetic and learned man, he presided over a series of measures which brought relative order and stability to Guria. Kaikhosro remained influential even after conceding ruling powers to Mamia V in 1809. Despite rapprochement with the Russian Empire, Kaikhosro was suspicious of the Russian intentions. While Mamia remained loyal to Russia, Kaikhosro became involved in an uprising against the Russian hegemony in western Georgia in 1820. After the rebels' defeat, Kaikhosro had to flee to the Ottoman territory, where he died in 1829.

References

  1. ↑ "Population by regions". National Statistics Office of Georgia. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  2. ↑ "Regional Gross Domestic Product" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  4. ↑ Population of Georgia Archived 2016-03-28 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Guria". Georgian Travel Guide. Retrieved Aug 18, 2021.
  6. ↑ Sekunda, Nicholas, ed. (2020). Wonders Lost and Found: A Celebration of the Archaeological Work of Professor Michael Vickers. Archaeopress Publishing Limited. pp. 18–32. ISBN   978-0-8061-3000-2 . Retrieved Aug 18, 2021.
  7. ↑ Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts, p. 427. Peeters Bvba, ISBN   90-429-1318-5.
  8. ↑ Yust, Walter (ed., 1952), The Encyclopædia Britannica - A new survey of universal knowledge. Volume 14, p. 6.
  9. ↑ Stephen F. Jones (2005), Socialism in Georgian Colors: The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883-1917, pp. 131-2. Harvard University Press, ISBN   0-674-01902-4.
  10. 1 2 Dumbadze, Bedisa (24 Aug 2017). "Georgia's Guria Region - "The land of the restless"". Georgian Journal. Retrieved Aug 18, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Gurians, a historical people of West Caucasia, whose".

41°58′N42°12′E / 41.967°N 42.200°E / 41.967; 42.200

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