Explore Tbilisi during Spring Nights
Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia founded in the 5th century. According to a legend, King Vakhtang Gorgasali was hunting in the woods on the banks of the Kura River and wounded a pheasant. The bird ran to the sulfur springs that healed it immediately. The King was amazed by the healing features of the spring and decided to build a city around it. Tbilisi is a mixture of cultures, models of architecture, different religious and ethnic groups.
Tbilisi has been conquered by Roman, Arab, Turkish, Persian, Mongolian and other conquerors. Russia invaded Georgia in 1799 and remained there until the end of the Soviet era. All the different cultures have left their tinges on the development of the city.
Now Tbilisi boasts about its old, traditional and modern, newly developed architectural centers. Old Tbilisi is replete with historical, cultural and religious centers with the typical balconies and carvings on the house. While modern Tbilisi has a variety of extraordinary buildings.
The district Old Tbilisi is located on both sides of the Mtkvari River and houses Mount Mtatsminda, Narikala fortress, and the Kartlis Deda monument. The venue is full of churches, museums, sulfur bathhouses, and peculiar wooden houses with open carved balconies.
The cable car, which connects the old and modern parts of Tbilisi, crosses over the Mtkvari River. Rike Park is situated in the modern part and from the park, the cable car will take visitors to the Narikala fortress. The fortress overlooks the capital – it offers tourist the best view over the entire city.
Source: Georgianjournal.ge
Museum of Broken Relationships Comes to Tbilisi
From April 11 to June 15, the Betlemi 10 exhibition hall is hosting the Museum of Broken Relationships which was first launched in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2006.
The concept of the museum is to bring together items connected to previous relationships in one space, including clothes, accessories, and photo and video sources. The visitors of the Museum of Broken Relationships also have an opportunity to share their stories with others.
The unique collection of the museum aims to provoke feelings of understanding among individuals and serve as some kind of therapy for those who have experience break-ups.
For the three months, Georgian visitors will have a chance to discover the exhibits of the global collection of the museum and add their personal items to it.
Source: Georgiatoday.ge, By Ketevan Kvaratskheliya
Photo: Google.ge
Direct flights may be launched between US and Georgia
Good news for travelers from USA.
We are working to ensure that flights between America and Georgia are timely launched, – Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said at the briefing held before the governmental session.
The Prime Minister said that it was very important that direct flights be launched between the US and Georgia, which would help to increase the potential of economic cooperation between the two countries.
“We are trying to deepen the economic cooperation with the US. Relations between the US and Georgia have never been so intensive and I think it’s very important that direct flights be launched between the US and Georgia. Accordingly, the Ministry of Economics is conducting research, which will help us find a company that will be able to start flights between the US and Georgia. This will help us to increase the potential of economic cooperation between the two countries”, Mamuka Bakhtadze said.
Source:Georgianjournal.ge; Photo: Georgianjournal.ge
See historical Georgian costumes on Europe’s largest online platform
Millions of visitors of Europeana, the largest European digital platform for cultural heritage, will now be able to learn about Georgian costumes worn by the country’s historical nobility as well as those used in classic film and theatre productions.
Over 30 exhibits from Tbilisi-based Art Palace museum have been uploaded to the online database’s fashion section, after the Georgian venue collaborated with organisers of the platform to have their collections showcased.
The range of Georgian attires, gowns and robes is displayed in the section that also presents entries such as the legacy of Paris fashion houses, famed designers including Yves Saint Laurent, and exhibits demonstrating various techniques of garment creation.
Examples from the Art Palace collection include a 1948 dress worn by an actor in Keto and Kote, a film staged based on the celebrated 1919 Georgian opera of the same name.
Art Palace director Giorgi Kalandia told Rustavi 2 TV the dress had been donated to the museum years ago in severely damaged condition. It was later repaired by professionals at the venue and is on both physical and digital display.
Other items include a ceremonial robe worn by Georgia’s 12th century Queen Tamar — created based on an 18th century fresco by celebrated theatre designer Simon Virsaladze — and a traditional woman’s dress from the highland Mtiuleti province.
The costumes are now part of over 50 million digitised items including garments, artwork and books the Europe-wide platform has accepted on its website since its launch in 2008. About 3,000 cultural institutions from across Europe have exhibits on Europeana.
Art Palace launched talks for exhibiting the museum’s collections on the website last year, as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
The joining of the Europeana directory comes as part of an initiative bringing the museum’s stories on exhibits and personalities of Georgian art to online space, first launched on Google Arts & Culture — another international digital platform for cultural heritage.
Art Palace’s collections on the latter include displays for painter, art researcher and technological pioneer David Kakabadze, contemporary artist Tamara Kvesitadze and theatre designer Petre Otskheli.
The Tbilisi venue said more exhibits from its vaults are set to be prepared to be displayed on Europeana as its collaboration with the platform evolves.
Source: Agenda.ge, photo: Agenda.ge
Wives of Ambassadors Enthusiastic about Mastering Georgian Dance
Georgian dance is one of the most significant and unalienable parts of the country’s diverse and colorful culture. Each region in Georgia has its own unique dance which perfectly portrays the character and outstanding features of the Georgian people.
Georgian dance is known in different parts of the world among different nations. However, it is quite interesting that the guests of Georgia are so enthusiastic about mastering the country’s traditional national dances.
The wives of the Ambassadors to Georgia expressed interest in learning Georgian national dance and have begun to take classes in it.
The master-classes are led by a professional dancer of the National Georgian Ballet Sukhishvili (also known as Sukhishvilebi), Tea Darchia.
The idea of taking courses of Georgian dance was initiated by the spouse of the Ambassador of Sweden to Georgia. She motivated other representatives of the diplomatic corps. The ladies state these classes help them get a sense of the Georgian soul.
Aside from a love of Georgian dance and music, the spouses of the ambassadors have been united for a much more important reason. With the given initiative, they express solidarity to women with breast cancer.
The future plans of these ladies also involve giving a concert.
Source: Georgiatoday.ge, By Ketevan Kvaratskheliya
Street Name Commemorates German Heritage in Georgia
The Union for the Protection of German Cultural Heritage in the South Caucasus has announced that Joseph Stalin Street in Asureti is now called Schwabenstrasse (Schwabian Street).
Around 1400 German families settled in Kvemo Kartli in Georgia after the Russian Tsar Aleksandr I invited foreigners to live in Transcaucasia.
His 1804 law allowed foreigners to make use of land plots and cultivate them. They were also tax-exempt and not required to complete military service.
The German families settled in Elizabethal settlement, named after the Russian Tsaritsa Elizabeth Alexeievna. Many of the families who emigrated to Georgia were Swabians. They also settled in Tbilisi and Abkhazia.
Source: Georgiatoday.ge, By Amy Jones
Photo: Georgiatoday.ge
Uplistsikhe cave-town is named among 115 fairy tales villages of the world
The magazine “Architecture Desigh” has introduced the world’s 115 fabulous villages, which are distinguished by landscape, culture and aesthetic characteristics.
In the list of fairy tales villages there are beautiful villages from 115 countries. The list also includes the oldest, beautiful, Georgian, cave and historical town – Uplistsikhe.
In the list there are other wonderful places, which are in Germany, Japan, Austria, China and other countries.
Source: Agora.ge
Tbilisi Open Air Festival 2019
Music breaks free…
Yesterday, Fabrika hostel’s Jungle Room hosted the official press conference of the eagerly awaited Tbilisi Open Air Festival. The annual event will take place on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of June at Lisi Wonderland for its 10th anniversary.
The organizers launched the event and thanked their sponsors, TBC Bank being the main one. Everyone was waiting for the official line up that disclosed the festival’s headline Franz Ferdinand. He will be on the main stage on the Friday night, with the local MokuMoku as the support band. They also announced the coming of famous UNKLE, Tobias, David August and the Freedom Fighters, among many others.
The watchword of the gathering is Freedom, and its founder Achiko Guledani explains why: “This area is for everybody, this is a free area where different people can love each other, be together, and not be bothered by each other’s existence, rather it is quite the opposite. This is what Tbilisi Open Air is.”
This festival has been a go-to event in the country since 2009, when they held a very successful first edition. At that time, it was the largest scale festival to ever take place in Georgia. Since then, the festival has been growing and each year welcomes very famous international artists.
The goal of the festival is to host international as well as local musicians and offer a large range of musical genres to the public. People can enjoy high quality music as well as visual arts, which creates a complete and magical experience. The aim is for people to feel like they are in a world apart, where happiness and freedom rule. And precisely, for its 10th anniversary, the slogan is “10 years of equality and diversity”. Thousands of people from different backgrounds, origins and opinion will be able to gather one more time peacefully in this delirious environment.
We cannot wait to discover the surprises in store at the 10th anniversary edition!
Source: Georgiatoday.ge , By Gabrielle Colchen
Untitled Gallery to be Opened in Tbilisi
Back in 2018, The Guardian named Tbilisi one of the top 40 most attractive destinations in the world. It’s beyond doubt that Georgian food and its hospitality have a lot to do with it. But it’s also undeniable that Tbilisi becoming more and more chic through the looking glass of contemporary art culture is the needed cherry on top.
On March 30, at 6:00 PM, an Untitled Gallery will open in Tbilisi. The location of the gallery is 17 Ivane Machabeli street – in one of the most charmingly historical buildings in Tbilisi. The goal of the gallery is to bring the contemporary artists of the South Caucasus together and popularize them to a wide audience while connecting people and art.
Untitled Gallery promises us lots of interesting future projects, workshops, artist talks, presentations and other social activities to support peace, sustainability and minority right in the region.
As for the opening, Untitled Gallery will be hosting Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani artists. Delicious Georgian wine will also be offered to visitors at the event.
Source: Georgiatoday.ge; By Nini Dakhundaridze
Khachapuri among 100 best-rated dishes on TasteAtlas
Georgian traditional dish Khachapuri is one of the best-rated dishes on TasteAtlas. The website discovers local ingredients, traditional dishes, and authentic restaurants throughout the world.
khachapuri is the most famous dish in Georgia. The pastry is traditionally topped with melted cheese, eggs and butter. There are different types of khachapuri but it is usually filled with Georgian Sulguni or Imeretian cheese. Three of the most common varieties include the Imeretian khachapuri, shaped into a circular form, Adjarian khachapuri, the open boat shaped version topped with butter and a raw egg on top and Megrelian Khachapuri shaped into a circular form and topped with melted cheese.
TasteAtlas also offers information about plenty of other traditional Georgian dishes from appetizers such as Jonjoli and Badrinaji to Georgian sweets Pelamushi or Churchkhela.
Source: Georgianjournal.ge