The House of Gurieli was a Georgian princely (mtavari) family and a ruling dynasty (dukes) of the southwestern Georgian province of Guria, which was autonomous and later, for a few centuries, independent. A few ducal rulers of the dynasty also rose in the 17th-18th centuries to be kings of the whole western Caucasus in place of the hereditary Bagrationi kings of Imereti.
Coat of arms of the Gurieli royal dynasty
Prince Mamia Gurieli of Guria, 17th century. Painted by Don Christoforo de Castelli.
Guria is a region (mkhare) in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital.
Image: Guria, Region in Georgia
Image: Bakhmaro 2019maystil
Image: Shemokmedi monastery, Guria, Georgia 5
Image: Kolkheti National Park