  We study the behavior near the singularity t=0 of Gowdy metrics. We prove
existence of an open dense set of boundary points near which the solution is
smoothly "asymptotically velocity term dominated" (AVTD). We show that the set
of AVTD solutions satisfying a uniformity condition is open in the set of all
solutions. We analyse in detail the asymptotic behavior of "power law"
solutions at the (hitherto unchartered) points at which the asymptotic velocity
equals zero or one. Several other related results are established.
