The Georgian Jews diaspora is antique.
We have been able to find out from the XI c. Georgian historical sources that the Jews first appeared and settled down in Kartli, after destruction of the first temple by Nabukhodonosor (586 B.C) and after their persecution from Jerusalem.
The Georgian Jews were considered ethnically and culturally distinct from neighboring Mountain Jews. They were also traditionally a highly separate group to the Ashkenazi Jews in Georgia, who arrived following the Russian annexation of Georgia.
We can see all the history about Jews in Georgia, by passing 21 towns and 43 Jewish heritage locations in whole Georgia: Synagogues, Jewish monuments having status of cultural heritage, Jewish museums, graves and Jewish archeology artifacts.
BATUMI
Batumi is the second largest city of Georgia. A Jewish community was established there in 1878 after the town was incorporated into Russia. In 1889 many of the Jews living there without official authorization (see *Pale of Settlement ) were expelled. According to official statistics there remained 31 Jewish families, and according to unofficial sources about 100 Jewish families. The number, however, again increased rapidly. By 1897 there were 1,179 Jews living in Batumi. One of the oil refineries was owned jointly by the Rothschild family and Jewish investors in Russia. The Jewish population numbered 3,700 in 1923 (6.1% of the total population) and 1,778 in 1939 (2,54% of the total population).
KUTAISI
Kutaisi is the legislative capital of Georgia, and its 3rd most populous city. Jews lived mainly in the north-east of the city – Kutaisi, on the left bank of the river Rioni. This place was called street Shaumyani. This area was settled more compact by Jews than the other ones. As time passed, most of the Jews left Kutaisi for their historic homeland. A small number of the remaining Jewish families do not live so compact, and you can rarely hear that particular speech characterizing Georgian Jews. But it can be heard in the speech of Georgians who continue to live on the street Shaumyani and it will still be heard for many years in this area.
GORI
Gori is a city in eastern Georgia, which serves as the regional capital of Shida Kartli and the centre of the homonymous administrative district. The name is from Georgian gora, that is, "heap", or "hill".
The city has an old history about the Jews in Gori, there is one big synagogue and Jewish graveyard.
ONI
Oni is a town in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region, Georgia.
In old times there lived a lot of Jews families. Despite a post-Soviet tendency towards migration, Oni still retains a small number of Jewish families - remnants of once powerful and large historic Jewish community.
KULASHI
Kulashi is a small tow in Imereti.
The town had formerly been a home to one of the largest Georgian Jewish community, whose size has significantly decreased due to several waves of Jewish expatriation to Israel.
BANDZA
Bandza is a village located in the west part of Georgia.
In the second half of 18th century Jewish people started to live in the west part of Georgia. At the beginning of 20th century they built a synagogue in the Jewish district of Bandza. There is also Jewish cemetery near the synagogue. The synagogue is not active today but many Jewish people visit it very often.
SOKHUMI
Sukhumi or Sokhumi is a city on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of the breakaway Republic of Abkhazia.
As the 1897 census results indicate, there were also many Ashkenazi Jews in Sukhumi. A synagogue was built in the first decade of the 20th century.
In Soviet times, the Jewish population of Abkhazia increased greatly, but the Sukhumi Jewish community remained the largest in Abkhazia. According to the 1926 census, there were about 1,100 Jews in Abkhazia, most of them Ashkenazi or Georgian. The Jewish community of Sukhumi was officially recognised by Soviet authorities in 1945, at the very end of World War II.
TSKHINVALI
Tskhinval is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region in Georgia. It has been recognized as an independent Republic by Russia and three other UN members.
Tskhinvali was known for its sizable Georgian Jewish population, where the community had its own quarter. According to the Soviet censuses of 1926 and 1939 there were about 2000 Jews in South Ossetia, all but a few in Tskhinvali, today only one Jew remains in South Ossetia, a single elderly woman living in Tskhinvali.