Ozurgeti

Osurgeti (Georgian ოზურგეთი ) is a city in Georgia. The administrative center of the homonymous municipality and Guria region has 18 027 inhabitants ( 2008). It is crossed by the rivers Natanebi and Budschudschi.

History

The city Osurgeti was founded in medieval Georgia. In the Russian Empire, it was originally the residence of the princes of Guria, and then district town in the province Kutais. 1840 Osurgeti received its town charter. During the Crimean War General Ivane Andronikashvili proposed on June 16, 1854 30,000 Man of the main Turkish corps at Osurgeti, thereby securing Mingrelien for Russia. From 1934 to 1989, the city bore the surname of the Georgian Communist Party leaders of the 1920s and 1930s, Philip Makharadze. Meanwhile, she is wearing her original name. Since 1995 Osurgeti is the capital of the administrative region of Guria and the district Osurgetien.

Economy

The largest employers in the city are a tea, a canning factory and a reinforced concrete. The city is the endpoint of a daily traffic railway line over Samtredia to Tbilisi.

Attractions

The city center is formed by a Georgian Orthodox church, a city theater and a park. On the square in front of the theater is a bust, reminiscent of the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. A museum dedicated to local history.

Twin Cities

Osurgeti maintains with the following cities twinned:

• Henitschesk Ukraine (Ukraine )

Sons and daughters of the town

• Giorgi Kekelidze (* 1984), Georgian poet and essayist
• Vladimir Nemirovich -Danchenko (1858-1943), Russian playwright and theater director