The National Botanical Garden of Georgia (), formerly the Tbilisi Botanical Garden (), is located in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, and lies in the Tsavkisis-Tskali Gorge on the southern foothills of the Sololaki Range (a spur of the Trialeti Range). 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 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 (1701) and on the Tbilisi, map composed by Prince Vakhushti (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 in 1845.
From 1888 on, when a floristics 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 (1812-1878). The central entrance to the Garden is located at the foothills of the Narikala 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 "Gvirabi".
Story
In Georgia, the import, propagation, and selection of plants from foreign countries have been occurring since ancient times. Greek myths even mention the famous medicinal plant garden of Colchis' Medea and her mother Circe. In the Georgian language, the garden has several synonyms that denote its decorative and healing purpose - "Place Greens", "Tsalkot", "Paradise", "Bagnari", and others.
According to the maps of Tbilisi compiled by Vakhushti Batonishvili (1735), Pishevich (1735), and Chuiko (1800), three small gardens were cultivated in different parts of what is today's botanical garden, and they were the property of kings. Historian Plato Ioseliani noted that the distinctive Georgian kings cultivated a garden in Leghvtakhevi, in front of the palace. French traveler Jean-Baptiste Chardin's records indicate that the royal garden was maintained by the wife of the last king of Kartli-Kakheti, Queen Mary 12.
Since 1801, after Georgia's accession to Russia, the royal court's garden was renamed the "Tbilisi Treasury Garden".
On May 1, 1845, by decree of the Viceroy of the Caucasus, Count Mikhail Vorontsov, the royal garden was renamed the "Tbilisi Botanical Garden", and its care was overseen by the Viceroy of the Caucasus himself. For almost a century, the Tbilisi Botanical Garden was the only scientific hub in the Caucasus. During this time, a small orangery of woody plants was built, retaining walls were constructed, and three terraces were arranged. Fruit tree and vine seedlings, ornamental plants, and new varieties of vegetables were given out free of charge. An irrigation system was also established.
The garden was subsequently led by prominent garden decorators and dendrologists. In the second half of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, a gardening school was opened in the botanical garden, and the garden was referred to as the "Garden of the Gardener School". The garden was constructed in 12 stages; in 1872, orangery materials were imported from France, and in 1873, a small, arched orangery was built. By the end of 1875, 1238 species of open ground and orangery plants (including pineapple culture) were cultivated in the garden. In addition, there were 134 varieties of roses. The first catalog of the botanical garden was published. A botanical garden museum was organized, the basis for the collection of herbarium of Caucasus plants was laid, and a library was established.
From 1899, Adolf Christian Rollov served as the head of the botanical garden. During this period, the botanical garden evolved into a large scientific institution, with properly equipped laboratories and offices.
Famous Georgian scientists such as Niko Ketskhoveli, Levan Kanchaveli, Vladimir Menabde, Ksenia Bakhtadze, Tamar Sulakadze, Levan Japaridze, and Mikheil Sakhokia worked and were educated in the botanical garden. Since 1913, only one Georgian botanist – Luba Kemularia – worked in the botanical garden.
Academicians Vasil Gulatishvili and Mamia Gogolishvili greatly contributed to the revival and development of the botanical garden in the twentieth century.