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Guria Guria is a very special region of Georgia. Huge mountains, beautiful spas, famous mineral springs, sandy beaches, tea plantations, unique polyphonic songs and above all hospitable, humorous and very active people, who are politically very engaged and at the same time almost always against any government. These are the things that come to mind when you hear the word Guria. Guria is the smallest region in Georgia, located in the western part of the country on the Black Sea. Despite its small size and sparse population, Guria has managed to maintain an independent principality for centuries, even forming its own republic. General information Area: 2033.2 km2 The name Guria is first mentioned with the Georgian name Guria in a written document from the 8th century. Cultural and natural highlights Guria is best known in Georgia for its diverse nature, numerous spas and mineral springs, but there are also several important fortresses, castles, churches and monasteries dating from the 4th to the 20th century. Spas and scenic highlights: 1. Spa town of Bakhmaro Cultural monuments 1. Dzhumati Monastery The cuisine of Guria The cuisine and specialities of Guria are not well known in Georgia. This is not because Guria has nothing to offer, but because there is little promotion of Gurian food, and also because very few people emigrate from the region, so there are few places outside the region that serve traditional Gurian food. Gurian cuisine is dominated by poultry and vegetables. The most popular meat dishes in Guria are: 1. steamed duck with mirabelle sauce Most popular non-meat dishes in Guria: 1. beans cooked with vegetables, walnuts or just herbs Very popular in Georgia is Guruli Ghvezeli. Crispy baked bread in the shape of a crescent filled with cheese, potatoes and boiled egg. Traditions and festivals in Guria Alegroba - Festival of Charity: The roots of this Georgian-European festival go back to the 18th century, when the last ruler, Mamia Gurieli, made his royal house the cultural centre of Western Georgia, often visited by Italian, French and German actors, poets and writers, or simply by European travellers. The festival takes place in mid-October in the region's capital, but also in the villages, and is held for charity. There are concerts, competitions, games of chance and each participant or spectator can donate something. Donations can be clothes, food, money, medicine, etc., just anything that people in the region can use, and it is then distributed to the elderly, the sick and anyone else who needs it. Kalanda - Regional New Year: In most countries of the world, the New Year is celebrated once, on 1 January. In Georgia it is celebrated twice, on 1 January according to the Gregorian calendar and on 14 January according to the Julian calendar. The 14th of January is celebrated differently in almost every region of Georgia and these customs, habits and rituals have become a tradition over the centuries. In Guria, the New Year celebration on 14 January is called Kalanda. The most important part of Kalanda is "Chichilaki", a peeled hazelnut branch in the shape of a small tree about 50 cm high, which is also called St Basil's Beard. The celebration: In the evening, just before 12 o'clock, the family goes to the wine cellar, sets a small table with various dishes and opens the wine amphora. At exactly 12 o'clock, a candle is lit and the whole family kneels in prayer around the wine amphora. Then the mekvle (the first person to enter the house in the New Year) takes a walnut and asks Saint Basil to fill the family as the walnut is filled. If the walnut is broken and empty, the mekvle prays to St Basil that the family will never be as empty as the walnut. A toast is made and after a short meal the family goes back to the house, but the first to enter is the mekvle, blessing with wine and bread in his hand. Transfiguration festival and horse races in the spa town of Bakhmaro Every year on the 19th of August, a special liturgy is held in the Church of the Transfiguration of Christ in Bachmaro. After the liturgy, a horse race is held in the spa town, with riders from all over the country taking part. Traditional carvings and knitwear are also exhibited on this day, and stalls selling local food are set up. The festival ends with an open-air concert. Lelo - Georgian Rugby: In the 18th century, a battle between Georgian and Ottoman troops took place in the village of Shukhuti. All those killed that day were buried with great respect by the villagers, regardless of religion or party. To commemorate this day, every year at Easter the village plays Lelo, where young people from each village play against each other. They have a special ball that weighs 16 kilograms and the aim of the game is to get the ball and their opponents to the other side of the Shukhuti River. After the game, the players from both sides take the ball to the graveyard and worship the souls of the deceased with prayers and toasts. Interesting facts about Gurien Polyphonic songs - Guria has many polyphonic songs, the most famous of which is Krimanchuli. The song is usually sung in several voices and includes a part without lyrics that sounds similar to yodelling. Krimanchuli was originally sung by people working in the fields or by shepherds. Tea from Guria - It may sound unusual, but Georgia used to grow a lot of tea, which won several awards at international trade fairs. During the Soviet era, only the quantity of production was taken into account, so the reputation of Georgian tea suffered greatly, but today there are about 6,000 hectares of tea plantations in Georgia, mainly in the Gurian region, where the tea is hand-picked and great attention is paid to quality. The best known tea producers from Guria are the Gurieli and Schemokmedi companies. However, there are also several small farmers who pick, dry, process and sell the tea themselves. Independent Republic - Gurien is considered to be a very politically engaged region, known for its oppositional attitude. In 1905, when it was still part of Tsarist Russia along with Georgia, Gurien proclaimed its own republic, which has been compared to the Paris Commune. The last Soviet foreign minister and former Georgian president, Eduard Shevardnadze, was born in Guria. History of Guria As in the whole of Georgia, the first human traces in Guria date back to the Stone Age. The territory of Guria was part of the Kingdom of Colchis in pre-Christian times and later, from the 2nd century AD, part of the West Georgian Kingdom of Lazika. The name Guria was first mentioned in the 8th century during the Arab conquests, but the Principality of Guria was not established until the 13th century and was an important part of the United Kingdom of Georgia. At that time, Guria included areas of modern-day Adjara and had good trade relations across the Black Sea with various European cities, including Venice and Genoa. At the beginning of the 16th century, when Georgia was divided into three kingdoms and various principalities, Guria declared itself an independent grand principality and was no longer ruled by Georgian kings but by local grand princes. In the centuries that followed, Guria did not necessarily have an easy time. There were frequent power struggles between small principalities and also with the Georgian kings, but it was the rise of the Ottomans to world power that affected Guria the most. The Ottomans immediately took over Adjara and became direct neighbors of Guria. The new neighbors often invaded Guria and forced the princes to pay tribute, which led to the local princes making contact with Russia. Tsarist Russia, aware of Guria's important geopolitical position with access to the Black Sea and geographical proximity to the Ottoman Empire, decided to place Guria under its protectorate in 1804. During the Russo-Ottoman War of 1828-29, Guria's territory was a major military battleground, which greatly weakened the region. Guria saw that after the principality was under Russian protectorate, the people were even worse off and the influence of the local princes continued to decline, so the last regent of Guria, Sofia, decided to form an alliance with the Ottoman Empire. The attempt failed, however, and Russia dissolved the Principality of Guria in 1829 and incorporated it into Tsarist Russia. During the last Russian-Ottoman war of 1877-78, one of the front lines ran through Guria, and at the end of the war the conscripts were not sent home, but were left in the barracks and military posts. This and many other things have caused discontent, unrest and uprisings in Guria. Due to the difficult economic situation, the newly formed socialist parties in Guria quickly found many supporters, to the point that the revolutionaries in Guria proclaimed their own republic in 1905. The First Republic of Guria lasted for a year, until the revolutionaries were crushed by the Tsarist army. The next and last major uprising in Guria took place in 1924, this time against the Soviet regime. The insurgents held about 2000 local communists and managed to hold off a Red Army offensive for several days, but in the end the uprising was crushed. During the Soviet period, 24 tea factories operated in Guria, as well as several citrus and grain processing plants. Livestock farming and fishing were widespread in the region, and an important economic factor was tourism on the Black Sea coast and in the spas of the Lesser Caucasus. In 1995, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Guria was granted the status of administrative region and became an administrative unit of Georgia. On following trip you will visit Guria |
