Ancient royal palace discovered in Georgia

An ancient royal palace dating back 2000 years has been discovered in Georgia’s Shida Kartli region.

Expert archaeologists discovered remains of a royal palace, ceramic pottery and other ancient relics on ‘Queen Hill’ in the Kareli Municipality.

The Georgian National Museum said the royal palace could be dated back to a time between 200BC – 100AD.

As well as the remains of the palace and halls, archeologists found ceramic pottery, metal skewers, bronze scales and other important artefacts.

After inspecting the site, the archeologists believed the palace was destroyed by a powerful earthquake in 80AD.

A statue found at the site is being excavated by Georgian National Museum specialists and archeologists of Ca' Foscari University of Venice.

Meanwhile, experts began studying ‘Queen Hill’ in the 1980s, when remains of a medieval palace was discovered.

Ongoing research began at the site in 2013, which aimed to study cultural layers on the settlement.

The archeological works are led by Iulon Gagoshidze, who also led the excavations about 30 years ago, and Ca' Foscari University Professor Elena Rova. Students of Tbilisi State University and Ca' Foscari University of Venice, together with Georgian and Italian specialists, are also taking part in the excavation process.