Museums of Tbilisi
Georgian National Museum.
Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia
Address:3, Rustaveli Ave.
Phone:299 80 22, 293 48 21
Working hours:Everyday except Monday, 11.00 - 16.00
Date of establishment:1852
The Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia, formerly known as the State Museum of History of Georgia, is one of the main history museums in Tbilisi, Georgia, which displays the country's principal archaeological findings.
The Museum evolved from the Museum of the Caucasian Department of the Russian Imperial Geographic Society, founded on May 10, 1852 and converted into the Caucasian Museum on the initiative of the German explorer Gustav Radde in 1865. After Georgia regained independence from Russia in 1918, the museum was renamed into the Museum of Georgia in 1919.
A bulk of its collection was evacuated by the Government of Georgia to Europe following the Bolshevik takeover of the country in 1921, and was returned to Soviet Georgia through the efforts of the Georgian emigre scholar Ekvtime Takaishvili in 1945.
In 1947, the Museum was named after the late Georgian historian Simon Janashia.
The Museum suffered significantly during the years of post-Soviet turmoil in Georgia early in the 1990s. It was first damaged in fighting during the military coup in 1991-1992 and then part of its collection was destroyed by a fire.
In 2004, the Janashia Museum was integrated with other leading Georgian museums under a joint management system of the Georgian National Museum.
Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia - oldest of Georgia operates as a scientific-educational institution that preserves and exhibits a unique collection of natural and human history. The collections of the museum cover the history of the country, starting from animal re-parents dated back to 40 million years. One of the most amazing artifacts at the museum is the prehistoric human re-parents found in Dmanisi which date back to 1.8 million years and are oldest sign of human existence outside of Africa. One of the most important collections of the museum is the collection of Treasures that contains a big number of unique objects from the second half of the III millennium B.C. through XIX c. A.D. The collection features gold and silver artifacts and jewelry from the pre-Christian period from various regions of the country: Ananuri, Tsnori, Vani, Mtskheta, Tialeti Kurgans, Zhinvali, Akhalgori, Martkopi, etc.