Telavi and Craft Production

Abstract

       Telavi, the ancient city of Georgia was located on one of the main arteries of the "Great Silk Road". For many years it was the capital of the Kingdom of Kakheti and the residence of the kings of Kakheti. Telavi was a kind of attraction center and artisans, merchants and travelers of various fields used to come here to work, trade or live. During the centuries, the development of crafts in Telavi was at a relatively high level - at that time there were already professional associations of craftsmen - "Amkreb" with its own hierarchy. It should be noted that among the cities of Georgia, only Telavi had the so-called "Amkri Gardens". As a result of the forced annexation of Georgia by the Russian Empire, even Telavi lost its importance - it became a provincial town and assumed the function of a market center. Despite this, city life and its constituent part - craft production were quite developed in Telavi during this period. In the Soviet period, at the end of the 1920s, the development of handicraft production was dealt a big blow by the increase in the number of factories. In addition, at this time, individual labor began to be restricted and urban artisans were forced to unite in artels. For various reasons, some of the artisans did not unite in the artels, which became the reason for their repression at the end of the 1920s.  Today, like in other cities, in Telavi there are almost no traces of the old artisanal production left, the "gardens" have disappeared, their place has been taken by modern buildings and various institutions.