Oni, Georgia
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Oni Synagogue
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| Country | Georgia | ||
| Region | Racha | ||
Oni (Georgian: ონი) is a town in Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region (mkhare), Georgia. 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 830 metres (2,723 feet) above sea level and 210 kilometres (130 miles) northwest of Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.
The territory of modern-day Oni has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. Archaeology revealed the artifacts of Colchian culture, 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. Located on the crossroads from Northern Caucasus, Kartli (central Georgia), Imereti (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 in 1810, and made it, in 1846 a center of the Rach’a district. During the Soviet Union, 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.
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Wikipedia