The Ceremonial Palace of Georgia ( ka, სახელმწიფო ცერემონიების სასახლე), formerly known as the Presidential Administration of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრეზიდენტის ადმინისტრაცია, ''sakartvelos prezidentis administratsia'') or formerly the Avlabari Presidential Residence, is a palace for state ceremonies in Tbilisi that used to house the administration of

President of Georgia The president of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი, tr) is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U ...

. Located in a refurbished building of the former Imperial

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

, it is located on the left bank of the Kura River, in the

Avlabari Avlabari ( ka, ავლაბარი ''Avlabari'', ''Havlabar'') is a neighborhood of Old Tbilisi on the left bank (east side) of the Mtkvari River. The 11th-13th century chronicles mention it as Isani, which is now one of the larger municip ...

district of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

History

The construction of the administration building commenced in 2004 on the basis of a 19th-century neoclassical edifice, which formerly housed the Imperial

Gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

; the work was completed in 2009. The palace was built at the initiative of President

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...

. The residence officially opened on July 12, 2009, with a special ceremony being held in which up to 1,600 guests were invited, including the Catholicos-Patriarch

Ilia II of Georgia Ilia II ( ka, ილია II, tr; born 4 December 1933), also transcribed as Ilya or Elijah, is the 82nd and current Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church. He is officially styled as "Catholi ...

, ambassadors, parliamentarians, members of the government and cultural figures. Prior to its construction, the Georgian President resided at a Soviet-era complex in nearby .

2019 changes

In 2019, the Avlabari residence was renamed and it became the Ceremonial Palace of Georgia. Members of the ruling Georgian Dream party discussed the potential function of the palace to house the

Georgian National Museum The Georgian National Museum ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული მუზეუმი, tr) unifies several leading museums in Georgia. The museum was established within the framework of structural, institutional, and ...

. At the start of the Presidency of Salome Zourabichvili, the residence of the president was moved to the

Orbeliani Palace The Orbeliani Palace () or the Atoneli Residence () is the official residence of the president of Georgia since November 2018. It is located on Atoneli Street in Central Tbilisi. It was once home to Elizabeth Orbeliani, a Georgian poet and the coun ...

. On 9 April 2019, the Head of the Presidential Administration Lasha Zhvania declared that "The palace will be renamed as the palace for state ceremonies."

Design

The final version was designed by an Italian architect Michele De Lucchi who had also designed the headquarters of the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

, '' The Bridge of Peace'' in Tbilisi and ''Medea'' hotel in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

. Façade of the Presidential Office appears in mosaic authored by Georgian designer Natalia Amirejibi de Pita with an aphorism from the medieval Georgian poem ''

The Knight in the Panther's Skin ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'': "Good hath overcome ill; the essence of is lasting". The largest element of the palace are two shimmering "water mirrors"-28 long and 1,6 m high (89.6 m²) mosaics in front of the complex main building called "Our background and our identity", encapsulating the entirety of Georgia's complicated and colourful history accomplished by Natalia Amirejibi de Pita. There is a museum on the first floor of the palace, where items gifted to the President of Georgia by the leaders of different countries are exhibited. Ekvtime Takaishvili Hall is located on the second floor, which is intended for official and other important meetings. The dome of the building, constructed out of

three-dimensional In geometry, a three-dimensional space (3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a mathematical space in which three values (''coordinates'') are required to determine the position (geometry), position of a point (geometry), poi ...

bent glass in Germany, was designed by a Georgian architect Vakhtang Zesashvili and Italian Architect Franc Zagari. In front of the administration building, facing the main entrance stands a rotating monument in three colors, designed by Ambassador of Georgia to Germany and granddaughter of last Emperor of Austria

Charles I of Austria Charles I (, ; 17 August 1887 – 1 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV), and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from November 1916 until the monarchy was abolished in November 1918. He was the ...

Gabriela von Habsburg Gabriela von Habsburg (born 14 October 1956) is an abstract sculptor, working mainly in stainless steel as well as stone-printed lithography. She was the ambassador of Georgia to Germany from 2009 to 2013. She is the granddaughter of Charles I, ...

, representing three branches of government - legislative, executive and judicial. Poroshenko in Georgia 03

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Presidential Administration of Georgia . Government of Georgia (country) Government agencies of Georgia (country) 2009 establishments in Georgia (country) Government agencies established in 2009

History

2019 changes

Design

See also

References