Chronicle of Georgia

Interesting facts

The whole memorial complex covers about 12 hectares on Keeni hill, which rises to roughly 629 metres above sea level north of the Tbilisi Sea.

Each bronze relief on the pillars is set within a cross-shaped frame, so the story of the nation is told in a pattern of crosses.

Construction of the small Church of the Annunciation began only in 2005, and it displays images of eight famous Georgian churches, including Svetitskhoveli, Bagrati, Gelati and Jvari.

Tsereteli also created the 98-metre statue of Peter the Great in Moscow, completed in 1997, which drew mixed reactions from Muscovites.

His sculpture Good Defeats Evil, showing Saint George slaying a dragon, has stood at United Nations headquarters in New York since 1990.

Tsereteli, president of the Russian Academy of Arts from 1997, died in 2025 at the age of 91, leaving the Chronicle still unfinished.

Why it is worth it

On a hilltop above the Tbilisi Sea, sixteen colossal pillars rise in a ring at the top of a long flight of steps, each between 30 and 35 metres high and covered from top to bottom in bronze relief. Locals call the ensemble the "Georgian Stonehenge". Its proper name is the Chronicle of Georgia, and it was conceived as nothing less than the whole history of the nation told in sculpture.

The monument is the work of Zurab Tsereteli, the Tbilisi-born sculptor known for monumental sculpture on a vast scale. He designed it in 1981 to mark two anniversaries, three thousand years of Georgian statehood and two thousand years of Christianity, and construction began in 1985 with Soviet state funding. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s the money ran out, and the Chronicle was never fully completed, although work has resumed intermittently since.

The pillars divide their story in two. Their upper sections show Georgian kings, queens and national heroes: Mirian III, who made Christianity the state religion in 337, Queen Tamar, whose reign is remembered as a golden age, the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers who spread Christianity in the country, the poet Shota Rustaveli and Ilia Chavchavadze, leader of the 19th-century national revival. The lower sections depict scenes from the life of Christ, from the Annunciation and the entry into Jerusalem to the Last Supper, the Transfiguration, the Resurrection and Pentecost, along with episodes from the Martyrdom of Saint Shushanik, the oldest known work of Georgian hagiography. Beside the pillars stand a grapevine cross, the symbol of Saint Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia in the 4th century, and the small Church of the Annunciation. The names of Georgian monarchs who died and were buried abroad are carved into the pavement.

From the summit the view sweeps over the reservoir known as the Tbilisi Sea, created in 1953, and the northern districts of the capital.

Getting there

The monument stands on Keeni hill in Tbilisi's Nadzaladevi district, at the northern end of the Tbilisi Sea, about 9 km from the city centre; a road leads up from Unknown Heroes Street. The nearest airport is Tbilisi International Airport (TBS), about 17 km away.

From the encyclopaedia

The Chronicle of Georgia or History Memorial of Georgia is a monument located on Keeni Hill near the Tbilisi Sea. It was created by the Georgian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli in 1985 but was never fully finished. The monument sits at the top of a large set of stairs, overlooking the northern part of the city from different directions. There are 16 pillars that are between 30–35 meters tall. The top half features kings, queens, and heroes while the bottom part depicts stories from the life of Christ. Beside bronze pillars, there is a grapevine cross of Saint Nino, who first brought Christianity to Georgia, and a chapel.

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Chronicle of Georgia

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

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From the encyclopaedia