The Jewish Legacy of Georgia: Tbilisi Walking Tour
When travelers come to Georgia, most already know that they are visiting a country with a very old and fascinating history. But what many visitors may not realize is how deeply the history of Georgia is connected with the history of the Jewish people.
The story of Georgian Jews is not simply the story of a minority living in Georgia. It is a story of coexistence, migration, faith, culture, and shared historical experiences that stretches back more than two thousand years.
The Origins of Georgia
The history of Georgian civilization goes back to antiquity. In the western part of present-day Georgia was Colchis, a kingdom well known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the east was Kartli, known to the Greeks and Romans as Iberia. In the south and southwest, earlier political formations included Diauehi, known from ancient Assyrian and Urartian sources.
The Kingdom of Kartli emerged as an important political entity around the 4th–3rd centuries BC, with Mtskheta as its political center.
However, Georgia was not a single united kingdom at this time. The political unification of the major Georgian territories took place much later. A decisive stage came under King Bagrat III, around the beginning of the 11th century, when the foundations of a unified Georgian kingdom were established.
Over the centuries, Georgia experienced invasions, wars and periods of foreign domination. Yet Georgians managed to preserve their language, culture and Christian identity.
And throughout much of this history, Jewish communities were part of Georgian society.
The First Jews in Georgia
According to the medieval Georgian historical tradition, Jews first came to Georgia following the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
According to this tradition, some Jewish refugees arrived in Kartli and settled in the area around Mtskheta. Georgian historical sources associate their settlement with a place called Zanavi.
Although the exact details of this early migration cannot be independently verified, there is strong evidence for an ancient Jewish presence in the Mtskheta region. Archaeological discoveries, including Jewish tombstones and inscriptions dating from antiquity and the early Christian period, provide evidence of a Jewish community living in the area.
This makes the Georgian Jewish community one of the oldest Jewish communities outside the Middle East.
For Georgian Jews, this long history has always been a source of great pride.
The Robe of Jesus and Mtskheta
One of the most fascinating connections between Georgian Christian tradition and the Jewish community appears in the story of the Robe of Jesus.
According to Georgian Christian tradition, two Jews from Mtskheta—Elioz of Mtskheta and Longinoz of Karasani—were in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.
The tradition says that Elioz returned to Mtskheta carrying the robe of Jesus. His sister, Sidonia, received the robe and died while holding it. She was buried with it.
According to the tradition, a cedar tree later grew from her grave. The site became associated with the church that stands there today, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta.
The story is a religious tradition rather than an event that can be established through independent historical evidence. Nevertheless, it has enormous importance in Georgian Christianity.
It is also a beautiful example of how Jewish and Christian history became intertwined in Georgia.
The Bagrationi Dynasty and Georgia’s Golden Age
Another major chapter of Georgian history began with the rise of the Bagrationi dynasty.
The Bagrationi became one of the most important royal dynasties of medieval Georgia. Under King Bagrat III, the country moved toward political unification, creating the foundations for one of the most powerful periods in Georgian history.
The greatest period of medieval Georgia came during the reigns of King David IV the Builder and Queen Tamar.
David the Builder ruled from 1089 to 1125 and transformed Georgia into a major regional power. His successor and descendant, Queen Tamar, ruled from 1184 to 1213, during what is generally considered the height of Georgia’s medieval Golden Age.
There is also a famous tradition concerning the origins of the Bagrationi dynasty. According to medieval dynastic tradition, the Bagrationi were descended from the biblical King David.
This genealogy played an important role in the political and religious legitimacy of the dynasty. However, it should be understood as a medieval dynastic tradition rather than as historically proven ancestry.
Georgia Under the Russian Empire
Georgia’s independence was gradually lost to the Russian Empire during the 19th century.
In 1801, the Russian Empire annexed the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti. The Kingdom of Imereti was annexed later, in 1810.
The Georgian monarchy was abolished, and members of the royal family were removed from power, with many being exiled or forced to leave Georgia.
The 19th century also brought new Jewish communities to Georgia. Alongside the long-established Georgian Jewish community, Jews from other parts of the Russian Empire and Europe settled in Georgian cities.
Among them were Ashkenazi Jews, whose cultural and religious traditions differed in some respects from those of Georgian Jews.
Jewish Life in Tbilisi
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Tbilisi had become an important center of Jewish life.
One of the most recognizable Jewish landmarks in the city is the Great Synagogue, often known as the Georgian Synagogue. It was established by Georgian Jews from Akhaltsikhe, and its construction took place around the turn of the 20th century.
Another important building is the Ashkenazi Synagogue, also known as the Small Synagogue or Beit Rachel, which served the Ashkenazi Jewish community.
These synagogues are more than places of worship. They are physical reminders of the different Jewish communities that lived together in Tbilisi.
Jews in the First Republic of Georgia
In 1918, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, Georgia declared independence and established the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
Jewish citizens participated directly in the political life of the new republic.
Three Jewish deputies were elected to the country’s parliament: I. Eligulashvili, M. Davarashvili and I. Goldman.
Two of them, Eligulashvili and Davarashvili, signed the Act of Independence of Georgia on 26 May 1918.
This is an important and sometimes overlooked part of Georgian history. Jewish citizens were not merely living in Georgia; they were also actively participating in the creation of the modern Georgian state.
Jewish Life During the Soviet Period
The First Republic of Georgia was short-lived. In 1921, the Red Army invaded Georgia, and the country became part of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet government promoted atheism and placed severe restrictions on religious life. Churches, mosques and synagogues were closed, confiscated or subjected to state control.
Jewish religious life also suffered.
Yet Judaism did not disappear.
In some places, Jewish traditions continued privately, sometimes in ordinary residential buildings when official religious institutions were unavailable.
One interesting example is the Gori Synagogue, whose exterior resembles an ordinary house. Inside, however, it contains the spaces and objects associated with Jewish prayer and religious life.
This reflects the resilience of Jewish communities during one of the most difficult periods for religious practice in Georgia.
1970: The Peak of Georgia’s Jewish Population
One of the great paradoxes of Georgian Jewish history is that the largest Jewish population in Georgia was recorded during the Soviet period.
According to census data, the Jewish population reached approximately 55,400 people in 1970.
The figures show the remarkable growth of the community over the previous century:
1800 — 3,300
1832 — 4,000
1865 — 7,800
1886 — 11,700
1897 — 17,200
1926 — 30,115
1939 — 42,480
1959 — 51,600
1970 — 55,400
1979 — 28,300
1989 — 24,800
The dramatic decline after 1970 was largely connected with Jewish emigration, particularly to Israel.
The 1970s therefore became a turning point in the history of Georgian Jewry. Thousands of Georgian Jews began leaving the country, and emigration accelerated further in the late Soviet period and after the restoration of Georgian independence.
Today, a large proportion of people of Georgian Jewish origin live in Israel and other countries around the world.
Discovering Jewish Heritage in Tbilisi Today
For visitors interested in the history of Georgian Jews, Tbilisi offers several important places to explore.
One of the most significant is the David Baazov Museum of History of Jews of Georgia, dedicated to the history of Jewish life in Georgia and the relationship between Georgians and Jews.
The Great Synagogue in Tbilisi remains one of the most important Jewish landmarks in the country.
The Ashkenazi/Beit Rachel Synagogue provides another perspective, reflecting the history of the Ashkenazi Jewish community in Georgia.
Beyond Tbilisi, Jewish heritage can also be found in cities and towns such as Gori, Kutaisi, Batumi and Oni.
According to Georgia’s State Agency for Religious Issues, there are 22 synagogues in Georgia.
A Shared Georgian-Jewish Story
Today, Georgia has a much smaller Jewish population than it did in 1970. But the historical footprint of Georgian Jews remains remarkably strong.
Jewish communities have lived in Georgia through the rise and fall of kingdoms, the medieval Golden Age, Russian imperial rule, the short-lived Democratic Republic, the Soviet period and independent Georgia.
They spoke Georgian, participated in local economic and social life, built businesses, contributed to their communities and maintained their own religious traditions.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Georgian-Jewish history is that it should not be viewed as two completely separate stories.
Jewish history is part of Georgian history.
For more than two thousand years, Jewish communities have been woven into the social and cultural fabric of Georgia. Their synagogues, cemeteries, traditions and stories are an important part of the country’s heritage.
And when we walk through the streets of Tbilisi today, places such as the Great Synagogue, the Small Synagogue and the David Baazov Museum remind us that Georgia’s history is not only the story of kings, queens and battles.
It is also the story of the people who lived here, built communities here, and helped shape the country we know today.
The story of Georgian Jews is, in many ways, a story of Georgia itself.
Mukhran guliashvili
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