Surami

Surami
სურამი

State :

Georgia

Region :

Inner Cartlia

Municipality :

Chashuri

Coordinates :

42 ° 1 ' N , 43 ° 33' E Coordinates: 42 ° 1 ' N , 43 ° 33' E

Residents :

7,492 (2014)

Time zone :

Georgian Time (UTC + 4)

Surami

Surami ( Georgian სურამი ) is a Daba ( minor city ) in the Georgian administrative region of Inner Kartlien .

geography

Surami is located at the southern foot of the Lichi Mountains , divides Georgia into western and eastern parts and is connected to the city of Chaschuri by a railway line . It has 7,492 inhabitants (2014). Surami belongs to the Chaschuri municipality .

history

The first settlement at Surami was still in the Bronze Age . Pliny the Elder mentions the place Surium on the border of Colchis and Iberia , which is probably identical with Surami.

Surami is strategically located at the entrance to Borjomi Gorge, guarding the road from east to west Georgia. Surami became a heavily fortified city in the 12th century. From the 1170s to the second half of the 14th century, the Surami fortress was a hereditary fiefdom of the Eristaven dynasty (" dukes ") of Kartlien , who took the surname Surameli (სურამელი; literally "Lord of Surami"). Surami then fell into disrepair, but retained its lively trading post. In the middle of the 18th century, Surami had 200 households of Georgians , Armenians and Jews, according to Prince Vakhushti . The fortress was reinforced again. In the 1740s Surami was used by Prince Givi Amilakhvari as a base against King Teimuras II and the Persians . Later the fortress became the base of the Russians in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 . After Georgia was annexed to the Russian Empire (1801), Surami began to develop as a climatic health resort.