Shota Rustaveli fountain in Tbilisi

The Shota Rustaveli fountain is probably not called that – some people might call it McDonald’s fountain because it is near the fast food restaurant. I call it the Shota Rustaveli fountain because a monument to the 12^th century Georgian poet stands overlooking the fountain – and it is next to the Rustaveli Metro Station.

Shota Rustaveli is Georgia’s most famous poet, known for his epic saga The Knight in the Panther Skin. It is a long ballad of a poem – probably the longest in history. The magnum opus is 1,656 verses long, separated by chapters.

It was first printed in 1712, and it has undergone many translations.

The small, low fountain in front of the Shota Rustaveli monument is long and rectangular with lion head spouts.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and 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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