Symbolic Leuville Chateau will become Georgian cultural centre
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A French chateau with significant ties with Georgia will be transformed into a "centre of Georgian culture” announced Georgia’s Prime Minister while speaking about the transfer of ownership of the historically important estate to Georgia.
Today Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced talks regarding transfer of ownership of Leuville Chateau were in the final phase.
Garibashvili told reporters in Paris on Monday the Georgian Government had assigned additional funds to "sort out technical papers” for the Leuville Chateau, a necessary step in the process of acquiring the estate that bears symbolic importance for Georgia.
The Georgian official also spoke about the Chateau’s future purpose, noting the Georgian Embassy in France had developed an "interesting concept” for the castle in Leuville-sur-Orge, located about 30km south of Paris.
We are thinking about focusing on the young audience after the [ownership] transfer procedures are completed. The Leuville [Chateau] should become a centre of Georgian culture in the middle of France,” Garibashvili announced.
Georgia’s Prime Minister added the bilateral talks involved a number of offices of his Government; with the Justice Ministry, Diaspora Affairs Apparatus and Georgian Embassy in France all taking part in the negotiations.
Georgia has a strong connection with Leuville Chateau – the first independent Government of Georgia in exile settled there in 1921 after fleeing their home country in the wake of the Soviet military invasion.
The Chateau’s transfer to Georgia was agreed with France in principle in 2011 after the estate was recognised as a symbolic place for Georgia and a place of historical importance.
Georgia’s Government allocated funds to initiate the transfer earlier this year.
In 2014 Georgia’s Presidential Administration worked to restore the library at the Chateau, followed by the allocation of €107,000 (285,000 GEL) for the transfer of ownership of the entire estate to Georgia.
A group of well-known Parisian architects and designers will be part of a team to remodel the historic Leuville Chateau, which is a place of extreme importance for Georgia and its people.
A historic castle in the small French village of Leuville could soon become property of Georgia in recognition of the country’s connection to the site.
About 30km south of Paris is Leuville-sur-Orge, which some describe as a ‘small Georgia’. The area is symbolic for Georgians, with its castle and orthodox cemetery.
Descendants of independent Georgia's first prime minister attended a symbolic brief return of late Noe Ramishvili's credentials to his homeland earlier today.
France’s Leuville Estate returned to Georgia after 89 years (MAP)
An important historic milestone for Georgia was reached in France earlier today when a document was signed officially transferring the Leuville Estate back to Georgia after 89 years.
The Georgian Culture Ministry on Tuesday said its employees had completed the process of inventorying the Leuville estate and commenced sorting archive materials, kept by the former owners for decades in the chateau attic, for transferring to the library.
Georgia's culture ministry has unveiled the design of a traditional Georgian house that will be built in the historical Leuville estate near Paris to host cultural events, archives and a library, in the latest development in plans for the estate that housed the government in exile of Georgia's first democratic republic following the Soviet invasion of the country in 1921.
The first Georgian festival in the historical Leuville estate near Paris, dedicated to Georgian art and culture, is coming to an end on Sunday, with Georgian artists, folklore and choreographic ensembles and theatre actors performing for Georgian emigrants and foreign guests, the Culture Ministry said.