The Chronicle of Georgia is a massive monument in Georgia, found on the outskirts of Tbilisi, and is often referred to as Georgia’s Stonehenge. It used to be a lesser-known monument in Georgia but, due to increasing visibility on social media, it is getting more and more popular among travelers visiting the city. That said, it is still possible to see The Chronicle of Georgia without the crowds. It was not featured in Lonely Planet in 2016 and it is in fact not even well known among Georgian residents. Nonetheless, it is quite impressive and in this guide, I will tell you all you need to know about the Georgia’s Stonehenge!
The Chronicle of Georgia
The Chronicle of Georgia is a monument in Tbilisi consisting of 16 massive columns each reaching a height of 35 meters. It was designed by the famous sculptor Zurag Tsereteli in 1985 but was never fully finished due to reasons that are not fully known.
Assumingly, funds ran out after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Upon your visit, you can see that some of the towers still need to be fully completed. But don’t worry, this does not detract from how remarkable this place is.
While constructed in 1985, the monument looks much older than its actual age. The lower parts of the pillars portray the life of Jesus while the upper parts depict kings, queens, and heroes from Georgian history.
Those who look well at the bronze and stone reliefs can see scenes out of the life of Christ like the Last Supper and Palm Sunday while on the top of the pillars you can see, for example, queen Tamar who reigned over Georgia from 1184 to 1213 and Ilia Chavchavadze, a writer and poet who is regarded as the father of the nation for initiating the revival of Georgian nationalism during the second half of the nineteenth century.
The monument goes by many names and is also called “The History Memorial of Georgia”, “Georgia’s Stonehenge”, “The Chronicles of Georgia” or “The Stonehenge of Tbilisi”.
Aside from the monument itself, you can also see the cross of Saint Nino, a Georgian script about the history of Georgia, and a small chapel.
Zurab Tsereteli, the Georgian-Russian sculptor of the Chronicle of Georgia, is also a very well-known painter and architect and you can see a lot of his work exhibited all around the world, for example, the “Friendship Forever” monument in Moscow and “Hands” in Madrid.
The stairs up to the Chronicles of Georgia and view over Tbilisi
The Chronicle of Georgia is located on the outskirts of Tbilisi in the Temka neighborhood of the Nadzaladevi district on the top of mount Keeni. It lies also next to Tbilisi sea, an artificial lake with a length of 8,75 kilometers.
It’s a good idea to combine The Chronicle of Georgia and Tbilisi sea as a day trip. There is a sailing club, food shack and beach just down from the Tbilisi Stonehenge so you can visit The Chronicle in the morning and chill the rest of the day by the beach while having a bite and a swim.
When you’re at the monument, the uphill location offers some amazing views. On one side you can see the Tbilisi Sea while the other side offers views of the city and its suburbs where you can clearly distinguish the sovjet era buildings from the local architecture.
On a bright day, you can even see the snow-capped mountains of the Caucasus in a distance.
Stonehenge of Georgia, a magnificent Tbilisi monument.
There are many ways to reach The Chronicle of Georgia, one easier than the other. Before I get into the different options I’d like to tell you what we did and why it was and wasn’t a good idea.
Because we were traveling on a budget and the weather was nice we thought it to be a good idea to take the metro to metro stop Guramishvili and walk from there for half an hour to the monument.
What we didn’t know then was that the whole way to the monument was a steep way up. We used Maps.me to find the way and it led us away from the streets to gravel pathways in grassy fields with occasional litter on the side of the pathways.
The stairs to the pillars and the Georgian Script.
Although it was a fun adventure I was exhausted from climbing the roads in the sweltering heat only to find upon arrival that there were lots of stairs to be climbed to actually get to the pillars.
Just saying: if you don’t like to do a lot of uphill hiking in the sun, choose one of the other options below!
Here are 7 ways to get to the Chronicle of Georgia:
If I would visit the Chronicle of Georgia again, I would do it this way: Firstly I would order a Bolt taxi to take me to the monument to avoid all the climbing. After visiting the monument I would make my way down to the Tbilisi sea for a swim. After that, I would look for bus 360 to take me to Tbilisi Central Railway station back in the city center.
Tbilisi Sea, Tbilisi, Georgia.
Here are some useful tips for visiting the Chronicle of Georgia!
There you go! I hope you enjoyed this guide about visiting the Chronicle of Georgia in Tbilisi. Let me know in the comments below if you think this guide was useful. And let me know if you have any tips for visiting this impressive monument!
ENJOY!
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Hi! I am Annelies and this is Travelers & Dreamers, a blog about conscious travel which means traveling in a more mindful way, with a positive impact on the world and yourself!
On this website, I cover different topics like slow travel, plant-based food guides, responsible travel, sustainable packing, eco-travel, and more!
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