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Sujuna New Jewish Cemetery

Cemetery Information

Country
Georgia
Region
Tbilisi
District
Abasha
Settlement
Sujuna
Site address
Approaching Sujuna from the direction of Abasha, pass the Sujuna Orthodox Church on the right. Then turn left and continue for 220 meters in a southerly direction. Turn right. The cemetery is located around 350 meters further along on the right.
GPS coordinates
42.19853, 42.14386
Perimeter length
197 metres
Is the cemetery demolished
no
Type and height of existing fence
The cemetery is fenced with concrete blocks and by metal mesh about 1.5 meters in height. The fence is damaged in many places and an entrance from a neighbour's yard to the cemetery enables domestic animals to roam freely on the site.
Preservation condition
Fenced and protected Jewish cemetery
General site condition
The cemetery is not overgrown and relatively well preserved. However, because of the local climate, in winter and spring parts of the cemetery are covered by water. Many of the gravestones are no longer legible.
Number of existing gravestones
103
Date of oldest tombstone
1893
Date of newest tombstone
2008
Urgency of erecting a fence
Low
Land ownership
Property of local community
Preserved construction on site
No
Drone surveys
Yes

Historical overview

There are two Jewish cemeteries in Sujuna, located adjacent to one another and both of which were in simultaneous use for some time. The legible dates on tombstones indicate the second cemetery was in use from 1893 to 2008.

Sujuna is a village in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region in Western Georgia. According to various sources, Jews began living in the area by the 11th-12th centuries. Another source, however, states that the Jewish population came to Sujuna from Lailashi in the North-West of Georgia through Bandza at the end of the 17th century. A document dated 1770 suggests that Jewish serfs were gifted to a church in Sujuna and settled near the monastery. In the mid-19th century about 75 Jewish merchants lived in the town who played an active role in the region’s trade. According to the documents of the USSR’s Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults, the stone synagogue in Sujuna was built in 1819, and about 100 people were attending it for religious holidays in the mid-20th century.

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