Oni ( ka, ონი, tr ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti ( ka, რაჭა-ლეჩხუმი და ქვემო სვანეთი, ''Rach’a-Lechkhumi da Kvemo Svaneti'' ) is a region (mkhare) in northwestern Georgia (country), Georgia with a population o ...

region (''

mkhare A ''mkhare'' ( ka, მხარე, ''mxare'') is a type of administrative division in the country of Georgia (country), Georgia. It is usually translated into English as "region". According to presidential decrees issued in 1994 and 1996, Geo ...

''),

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Historically and ethnographically, it is part of Racha, a historic highland province in western Georgia. The town also serves as an administrative center of the Oni district ('' raioni''). Oni is situated in a deep gorge on the left bank of Rioni River, some

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

and northwest of Georgia's capital

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

History

The territory of modern-day Oni has been inhabited since the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. Archaeology revealed the artifacts of

Colchian culture Colchian culture ( ka, კოლხური კულტურა; 2700 BCE to 700 BCE) is Neolithic, early Bronze Age and Iron Age culture of the western Caucasus, mostly in western Georgia (country), Georgia. Colchian culture was divided into ...

, particularly a collection of Colchian coins dating back to the 6th–3rd centuries BC. Oni is first chronicled in the 15th century, though a legend has it that the town was founded by the 2nd BC king

Pharnajom of Iberia Pharnajom or Pharnajob ( ka, ფარნაჯომი, ფარნაჯობი; died 90 BC) was a king ('' mepe'') of Iberia from 109 to 90 BC, the fourth in the P'arnavaziani line. He is known exclusively from the royal list included in t ...

. Located on the crossroads from Northern Caucasus,

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

(central Georgia),

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი, ) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...

(western Georgia) and Lower Rach’a, Oni developed into a typical late medieval commercial town and was contested between the kings of Imereti and the princes of Rach’a. The town was absorbed by

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

in 1810, and made it, in 1846 the administrative center of the Racha Uyezd of the Kutaisi Governorate. During the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the town was united with a number of surrounding villages into the Oni district, which is currently administered as a part of the Racha-Lechkhumi and Lower Svaneti region. In recent decades Oni has suffered from earthquakes and a series of

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

s. A particularly severe earthquake occurred on 29 April 1991. The earthquake measured 7.0 on the

moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mwg, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. was defined in a 1979 paper ...

with a maximum MSK intensity of IX (''Destructive''), the most powerful ever recorded in the Caucasus Mountains, and caused significant damage to the infrastructure of Oni. Oni 1596

Despite a post-Soviet tendency towards migration, Oni still retains a small number of Jewish families – remnants of once powerful and large historic

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community, Georgia's third largest, after those of

and

Kutaisi Kutaisi ( ; ka, ქუთაისი ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia. One of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it is the List o ...

. The Oni Synagogue was built in the 1880s by a Polish architect and the builders were Greek Jews from Thessaloniki.Jewish History, Rebirth Celebrated in Ex-Soviet Republic of Georgia
, The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, November 3, 2005. Oni and its environs house a number of historical monuments, including the ruins of medieval forts and Georgian Orthodox churches. A popular spa, Shovi, and Utsera are located some from Oni, on the southern slopes of the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains. It stretches for about from west-northwest to east-southeast, from the Taman Peninsula of the Black Sea to the Absheron Peninsula of t ...

mountains. The Racha Regional Museum, located in Oni, has an impressive collection of 14000 unique artifacts from the fields of archaeology, ethnography, numismatics, natural history, fine art, historical documents, manuscripts, and printed books.

Demographic

The vast majority of the population is of Georgian origin and are Christians Orthodox. The largest ethnic minority is the

Ossetian people The Ossetians ( or ; ),Merriam-Webster (2021), s.v"Ossete" also known as Ossetes ( ), Ossets ( ), and Alans ( ), are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the northern and southern side ...

. There was a large community of Georgian Jews which explain the presence of the Oni Synagogue but they emigrated to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

after the fall of USSR and only a few remain to look after synagogue.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

, Israel. * Kazlų Rūda,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. * Fitchburg,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, United States.

Notable people from Oni

* Shalva Amiranashvili (1899–1975), Georgian art historian * Gerzel Baazov (1904–1938), Georgian Jewish writer * Dover Kosashvili, Israeli film director

References

External links

Racha Regional Museum
{{Authority control Bronze Age in Georgia Cities and towns in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti Colchian culture Kutaisi Governorate Populated places in Oni Municipality