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The Garden of the First Republic of Georgia: a time capsule




The Garden of the First Republic of Georgia is on Rustaveli Avenue, the main thoroughfare through the city of Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. It is a small, but historic garden on the site of the current National Youth and Children’s Palace.

The purpose and name of the garden has changed over the centuries. It was originally called Orbeliani Garden, the Vice Royal Palace Garden, the Garden of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, and now the Garden of the First Republic of Georgia.

Academic Nikolai Semyonov, an architect from Saint Petersburg, reconstructed and renovated it from 1845-1847 when it was called the Palace Garden, and only accessible to the elite. Swedish architect, Otto Jacob Simonson, substantially changed the garden from 1865-1869, adding the grand staircase leading to the entrance of the building.

On 26 May 1919, in the White Hall of the building, the National Council of Georgia adopted the Independence Act and the national flag of Georgia was unfurled. Consequently, the Democratic Republic of Georgia, also known as the First Republic of Georgia, was established from 1918-1921, reinstating statehood after 117 years.

The office of Noe Zhordania, the Chairperson of the Government of the first Georgian republic, was located in the building where the Founding Assembly of Georgia also held its meetings. On 18 February 1921 the first Constitution of Georgia was adopted. The 1921 Constitution broke new ground in international constitutional law at that time. It enshrined the country of Georgia as a free, independent, and indivisible state, with a democratic republic as its permanent and unchangeable form of government. Today the garden is honoured for its connection to the memory of the first Georgian republic.

The garden has some rare species of flora, including chittamwood, Chinese flowering chestnut, red pine, Japanese banana, sweetgum, cedar, horsechestnut, bleeding heart, white fir, and European beech.

On the avenue near the entrance gate to the Garden of the First Republic of Georgia is a plaque and time capsule. It reads: The Time Capsule enshrined here portrays Georgia in 2016 and profiles our vision of its future. Deposited on May 26, 2016, the capsule will be unearthed on May 16, 2041, the 50th Anniversary of the Restoration of Georgia’s Independence.

























MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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