Georgia Jewish Route

The Georgian Jews’ diaspora is ancient, specifically the history of Jews in Georgia counts 28 centuries. This means that Georgian-speaking Jewry is a community with the biggest number of surviving Jewish heritages in the whole world. The Jews were settled in different cities and villages around Georgia, such as: Oni, Gori, Kutaisi, Tbilisi, Mtskheta, etc. The 11th century Georgian historical sources say that the Jews first appeared and settled down in Kartli, after the destruction of the first temple by Nabukhodonosor (586 B.C) and their persecution from Jerusalem; as we know from history Jews were welcomed in the whole Georgia. Georgia is the only country in the world where Jews have not been persecuted on ethnic or religious grounds. Moreover, Georgian kings used Jews in diplomatic service and often sent them to negotiations. For example in the 12th century Jewish head trader Zanjan Zorababeli brought a husband for Georgia’s first female king Tamar.