It is one of the lesser visited sights at თბილისი, probably because it is located outside the city center on a hill and you need to travel by taxi to get there. You can also reach this place by metro and bus if you like to accept the challenge – it takes you to the suburbs of the capital city and shows you ordinary life. The Chronicle of Georgia is an impressive monument created by Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli in 1985, still during Soviet time. The massively high columns were never fully completed and show the history of Georgia at the top and the story of Christ at the bottom.
Some people call it the Stone Henge of Georgia, but it is really a rather new monument which is impressive because of its vast size. Giant steps lead you up the hill and besides the monument itself you’ll have nice views on თბილისი, the Tbilisi sea (an artificial water reservoir) and the suburbs with its large Soviet-style residential houses. What confused me here were large groups of Russians arriving by bus and proudly showing their nationality with clothing in the colors of the Russian flag. By the time of my visit 20 % of Georgia were under control of Russian soldiers (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) and Russia was at war with Ukraine with Georgian people taking sides mostly for Ukraine.
In addition, a large amount of Russians fled from Russia to Georgia to avoid military service or because they didn’t want to live there anymore. This has doubled and tripled the rents at თბილისი, making it hard to find an affordable flat. Keep in mind that average monthly income in Georgia is currently around 1,100 Lari (380 Euros) and a typical rent was 400 Lari (140 Euros) per month in the past. I can’t understand how Russians walk around proudly showing off their origin in such a situation their government is responsible for.
To reach the Chronicle of Georgia you can for example take the metro to ღრმაღელე / Guramishvili or სარაჯიშვილი / Sarajishvili. From there buses (check the route via Google Maps) take you to the bus stop უცნობ გმირთა ქუჩა #57 which is only a few meters away from the hill on which the monument is standing. Buses stopping there also go to the railway bridge near the main railway station. From the bus stop გადასასვლელი ხიდი you can easily reach the metro at the railway station.
საქართველოს მატიანე / Chronicle of Georgia
თბილისი / Tbilisi
Georgia
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