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History

The Palace of the President of Georgia is located in Avlabari, one of the oldest parts of Tbilisi. Construction of the Palace began in 2004, a year after the Rose Revolution, and was finished in 2009. The author of the project is a famous Italian architect, Michele De Lucchi, whose other works in Tbilisi include: the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Bridge of Peace.

Very soon after the ceremonial opening of the Palace of the President, the Presidential Museum was set up on the first floor of the Palace. The exposition of the museum has gradually become very rich with memorable gifts that were presented to the President of Georgia by foreign colleagues and honorary guests of our country.

One of the most significant sights of the Palace is a handwritten Bible of XI century, gold-plated and covered with precious stones, located in the main hall. This ancient Bible was given to the President of Georgia as a present by one of the descendants of Bagrations in immigration.

Office of the President of Georgia, which consists of two floors, is located on the second floor of the Palace. It is a combination of a work office and a library.

Ekvtime Takaishvili Hall, intended for official and other important meetings is also located on the second floor.

The Hall with the Dome, located on the third floor of the Palace was designed for official receptions and ceremonial events. The glass dome was jointly designed by a Georgian Architect Vakhtang Zesashvili and an Italian Architect Franco Zagari. It was constructed in Germany, out of three-dimensional bent glass.

Backyard of the Palace is decorated with a mosaic composition - water mirror named "Who we are and where we come from". It outlines the most important periods and persons in the history of Georgia, from the very beginning to the future of our country in chronological order.

  • King Aeetes, Medea, the Argonauts, the Golden Fleece;
  • Prometheus - The symbol of freedom and devotion;
  • Parnavaz - The first King of the Kingdom of Kartli (Iberia), the unifier of Georgians, creator of the Georgian alphabet.
  • Saint Nino from Cappadocia - Preacher and spreader of Christianity in Georgia in the first quarter of IV century, King Mirian, Queen Nana;
  • King Vakhtang Gorgasali - King of Kartli in V century, the founder of Tbilisi.
  • Bagrat III - The first King of unified and feudal Georgia (975 - 1014).
  • The Battle of Didgori. With leadership of King David The Builder, united army of Georgia defeated the army of Seljuk Turks in 1121.
  • Next three images are consolidated in order to represent the Golden Age in Georgia - David IV The Builder (1089-1125) and Tamar (1184-1213) - The Rulers of unified Georgia, Shota Rustaveli - Great poet and mastermind of the XII century Georgia. Saint King Demetre "Self-Sacrificer" and Giorgi V - Called "The Brilliant" by people;
  • Giorgi Saakadze - Great Georgian military commander, he is represented on the mosaic composition as a man fighting his own shadow;
  • Saint Ketevan "The Martyr" - The Queen which was tortured because of her Christian Orthodox beliefs;
  • The Battle of Krtsanisi. Fatal fight of Georgians under King Erekle II against the multitudinous army of Agha Makhmad Khan in 1795.
  • The composition "Tergdaleulebi." Luarsab and Darejan - The symbol of sleeping Georgia. The awakening activities of "Tergdaleulebi," are represented by Akaki Tsereteli's Peom "Bells";
  • Renaissance of the Georgian Culture in the XIX century. Galaktion - The king of poets, his immortal poem "The night and I";
  • The second half of XX century, transitional period, civil war, chaos, tragedy of April 9th;
  • The Rose Revolution - Hope for the future;
  • "Street of the future" - Georgia is striving towards a better future.

The conception of the mosaic: "Water - is time...Time flows in our veins and makes our memories independent from their historical prototypes...Water writes history by transparent ink on pages of our souls. It singles out important facts like islands...Its strong flow puddles and blurs everything else...Time, like water, mixes colors with each other and conjoins tones. The stream of history turns into endless variegated borders, where sharp pictures are interchanged with abstract fragments. Despite the fact that it is hard to distinguish the silhouettes of these fragments, they represent indivisible parts of our memory".

The creator of the mosaic composition is a famous Georgian Sculptor, Nata Amirejibi. She is also the author of the mosaic scripture (an aphorism from an epic Georgian poem, "The Knight In the Panther's Skin": "Good hath overcome ill; the essence of is lasting") on the facade of the Palace, which is also the motto of the Palace. The Georgian national blazon, also located on the façade of the palace, was created by a Georgian heraldic artist Mamuka Gongadze.

There is also a rotating monument in the front yard of the palace, representing the three branches of government - Legislative, Executive and Judicial.

A heart-shaped fountain-monument in the back yard of the Palace, constructed out of 67 glass heart fragments, was designed by a Spanish sculptor, Alberto Domingo and represents the multi-ethnicity of Georgia.