Historic Georgian chateau in France set for redesign project
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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.
The castle in Leuville-sur-Orge, located about 30km outside the French capital, is currently being transferred into Georgian ownership, after it was recognised as a symbolic place for Georgia and a place of historical importance.
After a meeting in Paris on Tuesday Georgia’s Justice Minister Thea Tsulukiani announced plans were in place to renovate the estate.
Tsulukiani said a special commission also planned to open a Georgian academy for artists and historians at the chateau, where the government of Georgia’s first democratic republic in exile lived after fleeing the country in the wake of the Soviet military invasion in 1921.
The Justice Minister attended Tuesday’s meeting supported by Georgia’s Ambassador to France Ekaterine Siradze-Delone and State Minister for Georgia on Diaspora Issues Gela Dumbadze, along with descendants of Noe Zhordania, former chairman of the Georgian government throughout its three-year independence from 1918-1921.
At the meeting Georgia’s Justice Minister acknowledged the role of the descendants of the former Georgian government members and public figures in exile in maintaining the Leuville venue to date.
We must be thankful to these families for their efforts to date and for preserving the Chateau,” the Minister said.
The Georgian Government allocated €107,000 (285,000 GEL) in September to transform and maintain the venue within an agreement to transfer ownership of the castle to Georgia.
Tsulukiani also announced an exhibition titled The First Georgian Republic, dedicated to those involved in Georgia’s short-lived independence in the early 20thCentury, would be organised by the Justice Ministry National Archives and held in Tbilisi later this month
The event was expected to involve participation by descendants of Zhordania and another Georgian emigre Mamia Berishvili.
The chateau commission is scheduled to meet again later this year to review the project presented by the architects and designers involved in the working group.
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.
Georgia has a long, dynamic history and those interested in learning more about the country's more recent past have the opportunity to attend an exhibition featuring unique materials from the country’s near past.
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.
Descendants of independent Georgia's first prime minister attended a symbolic brief return of late Noe Ramishvili's credentials to his homeland earlier today.
The first ever ambassador of France to Georgia, the late Bernard Fassie, was awarded with the order of honour by the president of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, in France yesterday.