Economic Significance and History of Gori

Thanks to its favorable strategic location, with the city connecting the capital Tbilisi and western Georgia, trade has been a prominent part of Gori’s history. From Gori, one road could lead you to the North Caucasus via Tskhinvali, while another would take you to southern Georgia through the Surami Pass. In the 18th century, Gori merchants were known to trade as far and wide as Isfahan, Tabriz, Gilan, Mashhad, Rasht, Shemakha, Daruband, Kizlyar, Istanbul, and Astrakhan. Over time, the ethnic diversity of the various artisans, service providers, and merchants employed in Gori broadened. By the end of the 19th century, the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Gori had expanded to such an extent that 65 different enterprises were registered in the city. Another measure of its relatively advanced stage of development was that women were already employed in these enterprises. However, with the Soviet occupation of Georgia in the early 20th century, came mass nationalization of land, expropriation of property from the local nobility, and the eviction and liquidation of indigenous communities. Long prominent families of the region, such as the Amilakhvars, who contributed immensely to the development of cultural life in Gori, were deprived of their possessions as well as of the means to continue their work. Nevertheless, outwardly, the relentless propaganda engine of the Soviet government assured the population that the area was thriving, especially in agriculture. Such propaganda was designed to make the population see collectivization in a positive light. Since Georgia regained its independence in the early 1990s, efforts have been made to revive and realize the economic potential of Gori, however the 2008 war and subsequent Russian occupation of nearby Tskhinvali region has rendered that a difficult task.