Guria is the country’s smallest region that borders Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, the Black Sea and Adjara. Guria is less common with so many gorgeous landscapes which Georgia can bring. Nevertheless, the Black Sea coastline will render the area a tourism attraction, extending to 22 kilometres, mountain resorts, fruit, and wine.

Also read: Things You Should Know Before Visiting Georgia – The land of wonders

History of Guria

There is a local tradition about the roots of the name of the city. There was once an ambitious and highly proud king in India called Shedat. He wanted to create a beautiful location for himself, an Eden garden as he assumed the people regarded him the Creator. Once his servants saw the Paradise, they remembered the angels were missing from his garden. Shedat ordered them to travel around the globe to find and bring gurias (beauties) to Eden. They obeyed their king’s wish and gathered all of the gurias they could find in various parts of the world. They figured out as they were heading back to India and went through the Caucasus, that the king had passed away. Gurias chose not to return to their country of origin and remained in the region which is now named Guria.

Also read: Imereti: The Best Things to See and Do in the Georgian region

Things to do in Guria

Horse Riding in Bakhmaro

The inhabitants almost lost their organic passion for wild adventures and horse-riding when those popular Gurian trick-racers were detained. Luckily, at the beginning of the 21st century, Gurian’s wanted to revive their old custom and began celebrating the Transfiguration of Christ, August 19, with a splendid horse race in Bakhmaro, the region’s mountain resort.

Horse riding in georgia — Source: Unsplash

Leloburti

Compared to the rest of the world Easter in Guria is totally different. This important Christian holiday is celebrated with a game of Leloburti that looks like rugby but is much tougher than that. The game is played between the town of Lanchkhuti and the Shukhuti area, which is bordered by two streamlets. The main goal of the game is for players to carry one of the streamlets with the 18-kilogram ball full of sawdust and sand. So the winner brings the same ball to the player ‘s grave which died that year.

Kalanda and Gurian Christmas tree

Gurians name New Year Kalanda that falls on Saint Basil the Great’s day. Chichilaki-national Christmas tree crafted from dried hazelnut shaving-is the key thing on this day. It symbolizes both the tree of life and wealth and well-being. The Chichilaki is painted with dried fruit and bright ribbons. Chichlaki is burned on Epiphany Day, January 19.

Places to visit in Guria

Gomis Mta

This Ozurgeti Municipality area summer resort stands at 2100-2755 meters above sea level. Gomis Mta has become a popular destination for many Georgians thanks to its rugged terrain, surrounding pine and fir trees, and jaw-dropping panoramic sunrise views. The atmosphere here is fairly warm, with mild summers and dark and snowy winters.

Similar to Gomis Mta, Bakhmaro is a mountain resort in the municipality of Chokhatauri, located about 1926 to 2050 meters above sea level. This is also surrounded by woods of fir and oak, rendering it a great vacation place for anyone with respiratory issues and other health concerns.

Local tradition is related to its name. One day, a beautiful and young girl Maro, who lived here, was kidnapped by a marauding tribe and killed. When locals find the skull, they saw writing next to her on a large stone: Bakh Maro, meaning in the language of the kidnappers: Here is Your Maro.

Black Sea resorts

Guria has three resorts along the coast of the Black Sea-Ureki, Shekvetili and Grigoleti. Ureki is renowned for its sandy beaches which are abundant in black iron ore pellets. People with medical and respiratory issues move down here in the summer. Grigoleti Beach is one of Guria’s most notable resorts, as its territory is covered by long pine forest and black sand features on the beach.

Shekvetili resort is the ideal location in a comfortable setting for those who want to enjoy their holiday days. Unlike Ureki and Grigoleti, Shekvetili includes more entertainment facilities, like the Tsitsinatela and Georgia amusement portion next door in Miniature City.

Ozurgeti Historical Museum

Being the largest museum in all of Guria, the venue features unique collections of Colhi Kingdom’s Early, Late, and Middle Bronze Age cultural items, ancient gold and silver items, numismatic Alexander the Great, Turkish, and Colchis silver coins, and other ethnographic items.

Ekvtime Takaishvili Museum

The village of Likhauri, municipality of Ozurgeti is host to a museum of noted Georgian historian and archaeologist – Ekvtime Takaishvili. The venue has four exhibition halls, where books, photos, and other personal objects from Takaishvili are displayed.

Nodar Dumbadze House Museum

Nodar Dumbadze is one of Georgia’s most sought after authors. His satirical novels are well known to all the country’s people. And some of them are even translated into English. His novels are primarily about Guria, its people, and their character. His museum is situated in Khidistavi village, Chokhatauri Township, next to his grandparents’ home. You can see papers, books, photos and personal memorabilia here, to name a few.

Kolkheti National Park

Kolkheti National Park is a country-wide park situated in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and Guria, in Colchis’ traditional west Georgia intersection. Central Kolkheti’s wetlands are an internationally important wetland and a Ramsar site. It sits between the mouths of the Tikori and Supsa on a coastal plain at the Black Sea and covers the districts of Zugdidi, Khobi, Lanchkhuti, Senaki and Abasha. The park was constructed between 1998 and 1999 as part of Georgia’s Integrated Coastal Management Program, which, with the aid of the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility, transformed into financially supported. Kolkheti National Park once transformed into a part of the Tertiary-duration tropical and partly subtropical region that stretched across the Eurasian continent.

Also read: Top beautiful things to see and do in Georgia in Autumn

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