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07/06/2024
This archaeological site, located near the village of Nokalakevi in the Samegrelo province, boasts a rich history dating back to Antiquity. Ancient Archaeopolis comprised a lower city and a citadel, both interconnected by defensive walls. Along with the huge fortification walls, with the main gate in the middle, the lower city preserves the ruins of palaces, baths, barracks, and three churches, two of which survive at ground level only, while the third was restored in the Middle Ages. Music by - Abkhaz State Song Ensemble Shavnabada • შავნაბადა - ჩელა/Chela
07/05/2024
The Church of the Mother of God is located in the village of Metekhi, in Kartli Province. Legend attributes its foundation to the fifth-century Georgian king Vakhtang Gorgasali. Based on archeological proofs the extant church was built in the first half of the thirteenth century and restored several times in the late Middle Ages and Modern times. Music by - Abkhaz State Song Ensemble Shavnabada - ბინდისფერია სოფელი
14/04/2024
Pudznari Church of the Mother of God is located near the village of Bodavi. It stands on a flat location at the bottom of a hill, in the center of an enclosed courtyard. The church is built of mixed materials – part jagged stone, and part well-hewn travertine blocks. It is a cross-domed structure with a rectangular plan. Unlike other contemporaneous Georgian churches, Pudznari Church displays modest exterior decoration. The façades bear no sculptural adornment, since the facing material is unsuitable for carving. Special thanks for musical contribution to New banas choir | ახალი ბანას გუნდი - to the composition - “More than three thousand years” “სამიათას წელზე მეტი”
16/02/2024
TSALENJIKHA church of the Savior was built in the middle or second half of the twelfth century. It is located near the town of Tsalenjikha in the historic province of Samegrelo. The church has a cross-in-square plan, with a dome resting on the corners of the apse walls to the east and two octagonal piers to the west. In the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, a three-arched porch was added to the west of the church, and galleries were added to the north and south. These galleries were later divided into several private chapels. The church in Tsalenjikha is well-known for its murals, which were painted by Manuel Eugenikos – a notable representative of late Byzantine art. The wall paintings were executed by order of Prince Vameq I Dadiani (1384-1396). Music by: Mariam Bigvava and Abkhaz State Song Ensemble Shavnabada.
24/11/2023
ERTATSMINDA - The architecture of Ertatsminda Church dates from the mid-thirteenth century. It is built of large carefully hewn blocks of yellow sandstone. The building has an inscribed-cross plan, with its dome resting on the corners of the apse wall projections to the east and two piers to the west. Pendentives serve to transition from the square central bay to the circular base of the dome. The Church of St. Eustace stands in the middle of the village of Ertatsminda, within a large courtyard that is encircled by a stone wall. The toponym Ertatsminda derives from Estatetsminda, which in Georgian means St. Eustace. The exterior of the church is richly decorated. All four façades feature framed double windows with large crosses between them, all of which are adorned with stone-carved ornaments.
24/11/2023
The monastery in Sapara has existed since the 10th century. The single-nave church of the Dormition of the Virgin belongs to this period. From the second half of the 13th century, Sapara became the residence and burial place of the Jakeli: the Rulers (Atabags) of Samtskhe (a historical region of south-western Georgia). Sapara Monastery is located ten kilometers from the city of Akhaltsikhe, quite remote from the settlement.
01/09/2023
Manglisi is one of the oldest Christian sites in Eastern Georgia. The first church was built at the location in the fourth century, soon after the Kingdom of Iberia had officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in around 330. In the 490s, a new church was constructed in Manglisi. By that time, it was commonly believed that relics which had borne witness to Christ were kept at Manglisi. Their possession made Manglisi the Caucasian-wide center for pilgrimage.
13/07/2023
Tsughrughasheni Church is situated 2 kilometers from Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral in Kvemo Kartli Province. The church was built in 1212–1222 supposedly by King George IV Lasha of the Bagrationi Dynasty. Tsughrughasheni Church is a cross-domed building remarkable for its unusually elevated proportions. The dome’s exterior height from the bottom of the drum to the top of the conical roof is two and a half times greater than its diameter, making it look like a tower. This perception of increased height is emphasized not only by the towering dome, but also by the sharply angled gables.
14/06/2023
BIENNALE ARCHITETTURA 2023 -Within the framework of 18th International architecture exhibition Georgian project - January, February, March is shown by Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. The project symbolically focuses on water reservoirs, their creation, and their impact in the age of rapid political transformations and climate change. How temporary is our footprint on the environment? When we mention the flows of energy, migration, time, and the outflow of the landscape itself, what flows are we speaking of? Can we consider water as a determinant of order? To what extent can the spatial–political development of humans bring changes in nature and society and vice versa? What physical and conceptual forms fade or remain with such transformations? Are the natural creations – their memory, history, and artifacts – signifying their past life and, above all, considering both the global and local contexts, what is their future? Commissioner: Magda Guruli Curators: Gigi Shukakidze, Tinatin Gurgenidze, Otar Nemsadze Exhibitors: Tbilisi Architecture Biennial 18th International architecture Biennale is curated by academic, educator and best-selling novelist Lesley Lokko and will be on show till Novermber.
24/05/2023
The Church of St. George stands in a thick forest on the edge of Daba village in the historic province of Tori, which has also been referred to as Borjomi Gorge since the nineteenth century. The church is built right up against a steep cliff, and its southern wall is nestled in the concavity of the rock. According to the inscription carved above its western door, the church was built in 1333 by the Chief Treasurer of George V the Illustrious – the last successful King of Georgia, who expelled from the country the invading Mongols and reunited the Georgian Kingdom.
19/04/2023
In 1851, the Mauritanian-style building became home to the first opera house in the Caucasus. The opera gained tremendous popularity, but ballet remained relatively unknown to the Georgian public until the arrival of four ballet dancers from St. Petersburg, whose uncanny performance served as an introduction to the genre. The first official premiere of ballet took place on January 18, 1854, two years after the grand opening of the Theater. The present building of tbilisi opera state theatre was constructed from 1880 to 1896 by Viktor Schroeter, a prolific architect from St-Petersbourg. He designed the Tbilisi Opera House in Neo-Moorish style, which spread across Europe and America in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The curtain for Tbilisi Opera House was created by Sergo Kobuladze (1954-56, 1961).
11/04/2023
Dmanisi is a snapshot in time, like a time capsule that preserves an ecosystem 1.8Ma ago. The Dmanisi site combines unique traces of different archeological periods. The site is rich in medieval and Bronze Age artifacts, but it is the wealth of paleolithic finds that have put it on the scientific map. The Village of Dmanisi lies 85 kilometers southwest of the Georgian Capital of Tbilisi. In the Middle Ages, Dmanisi was one of the most prominent cities and an important stop along the old Silk Road.
14/03/2023
Tbilisi’s Muslim population appeared after the conquest of the city by Arabs in the early VII century. Several mosques were erected in Tbilisi during the Middle Ages. The largest among them was the Shi’a mosque that stood on the right bank of the Mtkvari, close to the river. According to oral tradition, it was built by Shah Ismail I of Iran, who invaded Georgia and occupied Tbilisi from 1522 to 1524.
14/03/2023
TSROMI Church - The church in Tsromi is one of the most important early medieval buildings in Georgia, from both architectural and historical points of view. According to tradition, the church was erected at the place where St. Razhden the Protomartyr, a fifth-century Iranian convert to Christianity, was executed. The first church at the location of St Razhden’s martyrdom in Tsromi was most probably built in the late fifth century.
20/02/2023
A trip through the Impressive Architectural Landmarks in Tbilisi - Aghmashenebeli Avenue, Machabeli Street, Sololaki, Vera. The diversity of Tbilisi’s architecture was revealed from the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Cosmopolitan style met local traditions in Tbilisi, and this international artistic language of forms and themes merged with a clear national tradition.