JUST OVER AN HOUR’S DRIVE WEST OF GEORGIA’S CAPITAL TBILISI IS GORI. We took a mini-bus from the outskirts of Tbilisi near a rail station, to reach the town of Gori. The journey travels initially through the mountains which surround Tbilisi and then into a broad fertile valley.
Gori is not large and is physically dominated today as it has been since the 13thc, or earlier, by a castle, Gori Fort. Though the upper part is a ruin this is a must-visit for the overview of the town. However, in all other respects, the town is dominated by its most famous son, Joseph Stalin.
Located in the grounds of the town’s museum, dedicated to Stalin, is a small house that is apparently his birthplace and discretely implies ‘local boy made good’, so to say.
The museum is small and naturally, as it’s in Stalin’s hometown focuses on positive aspects of the man, rather than the horrific negative ones that might be key in other countries. The museum has a decidedly antiquarian ambience, with cabinets and natural light creating almost a Nicholasian (the Russian equivalent of Edwardian, I guess) appeal. Its well worth a visit – simply for the atmosphere.
Beyond Gori is a settlement of cave dwellings, Uplistsikhe. We took a taxi for the half-hour drive.
The car itself was interesting as it was a gas-powered vehicle and was filled at what seemed a regular petrol station – I was fascinated. Uplistsikhe is possibly one of the oldest settlements in Georgia and though a bit disappointing in itself, it was clearly an ideal location to live in as it looks over a small river with its fertile floodplain.
Driving back, it was obvious we were very near the imposed line of Russian control. After the 2008 war, Russia recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two Russian-backed breakaway regions that had been largely beyond Tbilisi’s control since the wars of the early 1990s that followed Georgia’s break from the USSR. Russian-controlled territory now reaches nearly 100km into Georgia from the internationally recognised Russian frontier to a point just east of Gori. There, near Chobalauri, the administrative boundary line has been pushed to within sight of the main east-west highway. It would take little to sever the link between Tbilisi and the Black Sea.
Tbilisi is now only a short tank drive down the road, or along a cargo rail track, if Russia wishes to impose its will. I realised why the EU flag flies everywhere we went: Georgians may hope it will be a protective totem, though EU money may not stop Russian force.
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