Georgian National Museum and the Golden Treasury

Why is it significant?

Arrive before the imposing neoclassical facade of the Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia, the flagship institution of the Georgian National Museum network.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Arrive before the imposing neoclassical facade of the Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia, the flagship institution of the Georgian National Museum network. Designed in the late 1920s by prominent architect Nikolay Severov on the site of the former Caucasian Museum founded in 1852, this grand institution safeguards the cultural memory of Georgia across millennia. Its austere ashlar stone walls and arched portico conceal some of the world's most extraordinary archaeological and paleontological treasures, spanning from the dawn of humanity to medieval civilization.

Step into the climate-controlled subterranean vaults to marvel at the legendary Archaeological Treasury of ancient Colchis and Iberia. Here lie dazzling gold diadems, filigree earrings, lion figurines, and granulation beads crafted by Colchian goldsmiths in the fifth century BC, confirming the historical basis of the Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. On the upper floors, view the famous Dmanisi hominin fossils—1.8-million-year-old skulls of Homo erectus georgicus—the oldest human ancestors discovered outside the African continent.

During the chaotic aftermath of the 1921 Soviet invasion of Georgia, museum director Ekvtime Takaishvili oversaw the secret evacuation of Georgia's entire national gold treasury to France. Living in extreme personal poverty in Paris for nearly a quarter of a century, Takaishvili fiercely guarded the priceless collection against Nazi plunder and private collectors, refusing to sell a single coin. In 1945, he successfully returned every single treasure intact to Tbilisi, earning the eternal gratitude of his nation as a canonized national hero.

Gazing upon the exquisite microscopic gold granulation work created by ancient Caucasian masters over twenty-five hundred years ago evokes boundless awe. The museum presents an unbroken narrative of human ingenuity, artistic brilliance, and survival that spans nearly two million years. This magnificent treasury stands as the proud cultural backbone of the Georgian nation in the heart of its capital.

Proceed across Rustaveli Avenue toward the monumental colonnade of the Georgian Parliament Building.