The Kutaisi Synagogue is the main building of the historic Jewish quarter, on Boris Gaponov Street. It was built in 1886 and is the second largest synagogue in Georgia after the one in Tbilisi. The building has a symmetrical facade, and inside it keeps its painting and frescoes. The synagogue is part of a small ensemble: two more synagogues, built later in the early 20th century, stand on the same street. The quarter grew around the old Jewish community of Kutaisi, one of the oldest in the world. By the late 1980s about 25,000 Jews lived in the city; after the collapse of the USSR most left for Israel, and today about 120 remain. The street is named after Boris Gaponov, a Kutaisi man who translated "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" into Hebrew.
🏛 About the architecture
- Built in 1886
- The second largest synagogue in Georgia
- Symmetrical facade, painting and frescoes inside
👀 What's nearby
- Two more synagogues on the same street
- The Jewish quarter (Boris Gaponov Street)
- The monument to Boris Gaponov
- Bagrati Cathedral and the Annunciation Cathedral
📜 The community's history
- One of the oldest Jewish communities in the world
- About 25,000 Jews in the late 1980s, around 120 today
Read on the blog: the Jewish heritage of Imereti




























