Gori is a small town an hour and a half's drive from Tbilisi, known above all for its Stalin museum. Most travelers stop here briefly and move on at once. Yet Gori is a convenient starting point for a journey through central Georgia. Fifteen kilometers from the town lie Uplistsikhe, a cave city three thousand years old, and two ancient Georgian churches.
Gori itself is an ordinary town of some forty thousand people, where Soviet apartment blocks stand beside old brick houses. This is its appeal: here one can glimpse provincial Georgian life without the tourist gloss. The countryside around Gori is famous for its orchards, and from late summer the roadsides fill with stalls selling apples, peaches and plums.
The Stalin museum remains the chief attraction. Its exhibition includes photographs, documents and personal belongings, and beside it stand the house where he was born and his personal railway carriage. The exhibition now also includes a section devoted to Soviet repression. A visit takes an hour or so and a half. It is best to come in the morning, before 11 o'clock, before the tourist buses arrive from Tbilisi.
In the center of town, on a hill, stands a medieval fortress. Entry is free, and from its walls one looks out over the town, the river valleys and, in clear weather, the peaks of the Greater Caucasus to the north.
Ten kilometers from Gori lies Uplistsikhe, an ancient city carved into a sandstone cliff above the Kura River. It was an important trading and religious center even before Georgia adopted Christianity. Here one can walk through halls hewn from the rock, see what resembles a theater, and visit a bakery with special recesses for baking bread. On the summit of the cliff stands a small brick church. Visiting Uplistsikhe will take an hour and a half to two hours.
Near Gori there are also two notable medieval churches. Ateni Sioni, a seventh-century church with surviving frescoes, stands in a secluded gorge ten kilometers south of the town. And twenty-five kilometers to the northwest lies the eleventh-century Samtavisi Cathedral, known for its carved façade. It is more convenient to reach both churches by car.
Marshrutka minibuses run from Tbilisi's Didube station to Gori (the journey takes about an hour and a half), and trains also run there. Within the town center one can get around on foot, but for trips to Uplistsikhe and the churches it is better to hire a taxi. A return trip to Uplistsikhe, with waiting time, costs about 25 to 40 lari if the price is agreed in advance.
It should be remembered that the administrative boundary with South Ossetia runs about 10 to 15 kilometers from the town. In Gori itself the situation is calm, but tourists are advised not to drive along unfamiliar roads in the direction of the border or to photograph border infrastructure. It is recommended to carry a passport.
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