The National Botanical Garden of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული ბოტანიკური ბაღი), formerly the Tbilisi Botanical Garden ( ka, თბილისის ბოტანიკური ბაღი), is located in
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 ( ...
, capital of
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 ...
, and lies in the Tsavkisis-Tskali Gorge on the southern foothills of the Sololaki Range (a spur of the
Trialeti Range
Trialeti Range ( ka, თრიალეთის ქედი) is an east-west mountain range of the Lesser Caucasus, Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the Samtskhe–Javakheti region of southern Georgia (country), Georgia.
The eastern edge of the Ra ...
). It occupies an area of 161 hectares and possesses a collection of over 4,500 taxonomic groups.
Its history spans more than three centuries. It was first described in 1671 by the French traveller
Jean Chardin
Jean Chardin (16 November 1643 – 5 January 1713), born Jean-Baptiste Chardin, and also known as Sir John Chardin, was a French jeweller and traveller whose ten-volume book ''The Travels of Sir John Chardin'' is regarded as one of the finest ...
as royal gardens, which might have been founded at least in 1625 and were variably referred to as "fortress gardens" or "Seidabad gardens" later in history. The gardens appear in the records by
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages.
Li ...
(1701) and on the Tbilisi, map composed by Prince
Vakhushti
Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი; 1696 – 1757) was a Georgian royal prince ('' batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, '' Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and the ''Ge ...
(1735). Pillaged in the Persian invasion of 1795, the garden was revived in the early 19th century and officially established as the Tiflis
Botanical Garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
in 1845.
From 1888 on, when a
floristics
Floristics is the study of plants of geographical regions. It is a branch of phytogeography, which technically makes it a branch of botany, geography, and a subbranch of biogeography. Harvard University has a history of research with early contr ...
center was set up, Yuri Voronov and several other notable scholars have worked for the Garden. Between 1896 and 1904, the Garden was expanded further westward. Between 1932 and 1958, the territory around the former Muslim cemetery was included in the botanical garden. Several graves have survived, however, including that of the prominent Azerbaijani writer
Mirza Fatali Akhundov
Mirza Fatali Akhundov, also known as Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, or Mirza Fath-Ali Akhundzadeh (12 July 1812 – 9 March 1878), was a celebrated Iranian Azerbaijanis, Iranian AzerbaijaniNarikala Fortress. The other, cut through the rock as a long tunnel in 1909–14, had been functional until the mid-2000s when the tunnel was converted into Georgia's largest
nightclub
A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
"Gvirabi".
In 2018, the garden was renovated to include cycling and walking lanes; the construction was in part paid for by the Kartu Foundation.
Gallery
File:Botanical Garden & Narikala, Tbilisi.jpg, Tbilisi Botanical Garden and the ruins of
Narikala
Narikala ( ka, ნარიყალა, ) is an ancient fortress overlooking Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and the Mtkvari (Kura) River. The fortress consists of two walled sections on a steep hill between the sulfur baths and the botanic ...
File:Most photgraphed spot in the National Botanical Garden of Georgia.jpg, An arched bridge over the waterfall in the Tbilisi Botanical Garden constructed in 1914
File:Waterfall and arch bridge, Tbilisi Botanical Garden.JPG, Tbilisi Botanical Garden in spring
References
Further reading
* "საქართველოს ძველი ქალაქები: თბილისი", 2006 წ. მეორე გამოცემა.
*Jimšer ereseliże, M. L. Loriia, Manana Elbakiże (2001), Tbilisi Botanic Garden 365. Central Botanical Garden, .