Archaeologists find ruins of royal residence in Tbilisi

In the course of the diggings on the territory of the church of 40 Saint Martyrs of Sebaste in Abanotubani District of the city of Tbilisi Georgian archaeologists discovered the ruins of the residence of Vakhtang Gorgasali, First King of Georgia, and kitchen utensils, crypts and Roman baths-thermae.

All findings belong to different times, starting from the first century AD till the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries.

"We work on this territory since 1998. Today new church of 40 Saint Martyrs of Sebaste has been built here. In the course of the diggings we discovered the ruins of the Tbilisi acropolis," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Merab Dzneladze, Researcher of the Archaeological Centre of the National Museum of Georgia.

"On this territory we found ceramic and glass ware, animal bones, there was also a maniphalanx of a 10-12-year-old child and a bronze ring. Apparently, this crypt belonged to a family of feudal lords," said archaeologist Veriko Chikhladze.

Another discovery of the archaeologists is an amphora of the 4th century. This thing was found in a wine jug. Probably, it was dropped to a kvevri (wine jug) by a guest of the royal residence. Now the amphora is in restoration in order to return her original appearance.

Apart from ceramic and glass products, on the territory of the former residence of the Georgian kings, under the ground, at the level of 6-8 meters, the archaeologists discovered a Roman baths-termae. There was an entire complex, built in the first-third centuries AD by means of the highest quality materials.

The ruins of the baths are to be turned into a museum.