New home for Georgia’s unique manuscripts

"This is a crime,” is how Georgia’s Prime Minister described the current storage conditions of the country’s most valued manuscripts and has pledged the important documents will be moved to a new facility.

PM Irakli Garibasvhili visited Georgia’s National Centre of Manuscripts today and was shocked at what he saw. He said the current conditions were inadequate and a new, large building would be constructed to house the valuable manuscripts.

"This is a crime,” he said when he saw the state of the current facility.

Garibashvili said the design of the new building will be completed by the end of this year and then construction of a new National Center of Manuscripts will begin.

There is nothing here. There is no climatic conditions and basic infrastructure. This is a crime that until now, the Government did not pay enough attention to this unique treasure, of which we are proud, Garibashvili said.

He believed the National Center of Manuscripts was a unique place that every citizen should visit.

Here you can see some of the country’s preserved unique treasures. This Centre should become more active and the state should support this, he said.

Increasing awareness and popularity of these manuscripts around the globe is very important. Our written language is unique and it is our job to promote it properly.

The National Centre of Manuscripts is one of Georgia’s most important depositories of old manuscript books and historical documents. The institute was established on June 30, 1958.