After our mountain adventure, we had a night in Tbilisi in a different area to the Old Town (which some readers had found depressing). The nineteenth century district Chugureti was settled by Swabian Germans and Poles from around 1820. By the 1930s there were about 24,000 people of German descent in Georgia but they were all shipped off across the Caspian Sea to be exiled in Central Asia.
The area has some lovely Art Nouveau and other buildngs in various states of restoration (or not) fronting the main avenue:
We liked the 3D relief on what had been the House of Political Education (now a business centre called Mozaika) – the original design was supposed to be Lenin flanked by Red Army soldiers but by 1978 (when this was made) it might have seemed a bit too much …
Opposite this building is what was the University Hospital built in the 1860s:
We also really liked the story behind the ‘Love Palace’ (now the Art Palace of Georgia) which was built in 1895. It was commissioned by a German duke to woo a Georgian socialite (Agrippina Japaridze) – it succeeded because she divorced her husband and married the Duke.
The Apollo Theatre built in 1909 retains its plasterwork but has yet to be restored inside.
Like the rest of Tbilisi, behind the main avenues lies another story – this is our very smart hotel:
And this was the view from our balcony:
Today, we picked up another car – this time already with a smashed side mirror – and set off for the wine country. It’s a shame we don’t actually like Georgian wine (more of that tomorrow) but we did absolutely love our opening picture – a wonderful sculpture from the 1970s called ‘Peace’.
Wonderful sculpture.
It was a real stunner ! And no one else around at all…
The buildings are wonderful – love the art nouveau. I am discovering just how much art nouveau there is seemingly everywhere!
A big pity about the wine- coping?
Yes, what is it about Art Nouveau? Everywhere in Europe and beyond I think. Wine a bit of a puzzler – great rep but really? Drinking white which tells you all you need to know.
The fabulous Peace sculpture (breast hole intentional, or someone’s attack?) and the wild playful relief reminded me of an enormous art festival in Tbilisi I read about a couple years ago. It was led by an energetic woman who spoke movingly about the radical arts scene there in all genres, vibrant and creative in finding spaces to live.
This was a truly startling piece of work ! No idea on the breast damage I’m afraid. I particularly liked that it was sited dramatically on a ridge by the picnic grounds..
Love the sculptures!
Truly fab, Lex!
What a lovely place – I rather like the stolidly bourgeois architecture you get in German provincial towns. The sculpture in the first photograph is fantastic and looks oddly south-east ~Asian to my eyes but nothing beats the two camp men either side of the entrance portico – I expect taken with your gay following in mind. Enjoy the Georgian wine – it’ll be a nice change from disgusting spa water.
Yes, I too like that SBA ( solid bourgeois architecture) – so reassuring. The two figures in the first pic are Hermes ( is that the plural of Herm?) – anyway, a figure I’ve always liked ( and nothing to do with Interflora). ..