The Chronicles of Georgia

The write-up

Georgia's 'Stonehenge' is 16 bronze pillars up to 35 meters tall. Zurab Tsereteli's Chronicle of Georgia, above the Tbilisi Sea, begun 1985.

1. Exhibit A

   On a hill above the 'sea'

   The monument stands on Keeni Hill in Tbilisi's Nadzaladevi District, at the top of a long stairway overlooking the Tbilisi Sea. The 'sea' is a reservoir on the city's northern edge.

2. Exhibit B

   Begun in 1985, never quite finished

   Zurab Tsereteli started the project in 1985. Funding faltered with perestroika and the Soviet collapse, and construction ran in fits and starts until 2003. Some elements were never installed.

3. Exhibit C

   Sixteen giant pillars

   Sixteen columns between 30 and 35 meters tall rise from a foundation of roughly 80 by 80 meters: 12 form the outer walls and 4 stand inside. Georgia's state art portal lists each at 35 meters.

4. Exhibit D

   History on top, Christ below

   The upper halves of the pillars show Georgian kings, queens and heroes. The central tier has 64 key historical figures, from King Parnavaz to St. Nino. The lower halves depict the life of Christ.

5. Exhibit E

   Bronze, not carved stone

   The reliefs are bronze and copper alloy, which gives the monument its greenish tone. Georgia's art portal describes the work as bronze.

6. Exhibit F

   A chapel and a vine cross

   The grounds also hold the grapevine cross of St. Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia, and a small chapel.

7. Exhibit G

   Stalin's hill

   In the 1940s the hilltop was set aside for a 100-meter monument to Stalin, and a foundation was even laid. It was never built, and in 1980 the site went to Tsereteli's project.