New Jewish cemetery in the village of Sujuna

The new Jewish cemetery in the village of Sudzhuna in Samegrelo - Upper Svaneti is an important historical and cultural monument. The cemetery is located 350 meters from the turn from the main road to the southeast of the Sujuna Orthodox Church. The cemetery is fenced with concrete blocks and a metal mesh about 1.5 meters high, but in some places the fence is damaged.

The cemetery is relatively well preserved, although many of the tombstones have been damaged by time and natural conditions. There are a total of 103 headstones on the cemetery grounds, with the oldest dating back to 1893 and the newest to 2008. In winter and spring, part of the cemetery is flooded with water, which makes it difficult to visit during this period.

Sujuna is a village in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region in Western Georgia, where the Jewish population settled probably from the 11th-12th centuries or at the end of the 17th century after moving from Lailashi through Bandza. The cemetery reflects the long history of the Jewish community in the region, which was actively involved in trade in the mid-19th century. Not far from the cemetery there is also a stone synagogue built in 1819.

A visit to the New Jewish Cemetery in Sudzhun is important for those interested in Jewish history, culture and heritage of Georgia. Here you can see ancient tombstones that serve as silent witnesses to the life and fate of the Jewish community in this region. The cemetery offers a unique window into the past, which helps to understand the centuries-long history of the Jewish diaspora in Georgia.