Historic agreement signed:
France’s Leuville Estate returned to Georgia after 89 years (MAP)
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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.
In Leuville town located 37 kilometres south of Paris, members of the Georgian Government and descendants of the 1918-1921 Georgian government in exile signed papers handing the Leuville chateau and its territory to Georgia.
Signing of the agreement ended the 25-year long handover process of the 4.5-hectare estate where the first government of Georgia settled in exile after fleeing Georgia's Soviet occupation in 1921.
The 4.5-hectare estate is home to the chateau where the exiled Georgian Government lived starting in 1921. Photo from Press Office of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia.
The historic agreement was signed by the State Minister of Georgia for Diaspora Issues Gela Dumbadze and descendants and representatives of the members of the 1918-1921 Georgian government.
The ceremony was also attended by the Georgia’s Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gigi Gigiadze, Ambassador of Georgia to France Ekaterine Siradze-Delaunay and related public.
Take a look at the location of Georgia's historic estate in France on the map below:
The transfer of Leuville Estate represents fulfilment of the moral last wish of the members of Georgia's First Democratic Republic, which is very important for the recognition of our historical and cultural legacy," said Siradze-Delaunay today.
Under the ownership of the Georgian Government, the historic estate will now undergo a major rehabilitation and restoration, estimated to take 10 years and cost €5.6 million (about 14.5 million GEL*).
Photographs of the members of the exiled 1918-1921 Georgian Government on a wall of the Leuville Chateau. Photo from Press Office of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia.
These renovation works will prepare Leuville Estate for its future use as a cultural and research site for young historians from Georgia. These young people will travel to the Estate on a rotational basis, said Diaspora Minister Gela Dumbadze at today's celebratory event.
The Estate will encompass a memorial centre of Georgia's First Democratic Republic, the Leuville Georgian Academy, a museum space depicting the emigration of the historic government and be used for other purposes that reflect the historical importance of the place.
Watch the ceremony of the signiture of historic agreement below:
Georgia has spent the past 25 years highlighting the importance of Leuville Estate for Georgia and working to get the venue transferred to Georgian ownership from the families of the exiled Georgian government who acquired the chateau in 1927 using Georgian state finances.
The arduous owner transfer process involved numerous individuals and a special committee that accelerated negotiations since its creation in 2014.
Families of the exiled Georgian Government wished to see the historical status and profile of the Estate preserved after its handover to Georgia.
Georgia’s connection with the Estate began in 1921 when then-chairman of the government Noe Zhordania, government members and a handful of Georgian representatives and their families boarded the Ernest Renan ship in Georgia to escape the Soviet invasion of the country.
The Georgians in exile settled in Leuville but life for them was difficult; there was no water or electricity and money quickly vanished. So did the hope of returning to their homeland.
* Currencies are equivalent with the latest National Bank of Georgia exchange rate.
A very symbolic event took place in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi today that intentionally coincided with the 25th anniversary of Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union, and the 98th anniversary since Georgia first gained freedom from Russia.
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.
French National Navy ship, Premier-Maitre L’Her, has arrived in Georgia’s coastal city Batumi to enhance the naval partnership between Georgia and France.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Mikheil Janelidze, has announced a three-day visit to France.
Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikheil Janelidze is paying a three-day official state visit to France, where he has already met with French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Desir.
Georgia is celebrating the anniversary of a landmark historical document that formed the basis of the country’s contemporary constitution nearly a century ago today.
All properties that Georgia owns abroad will soon be registered on one database which will be accessible to anyone. The registry will be managed by the National Agency of Public Registry and will be updated regularly.
Contemporary history enthusiasts have a new exhibition in Tbilisi to satiate their interest with, after high-profile guests launched a display of French diplomatic archives on Georgia’s First Democratic Republic in the capital.
A collection of historical notes and material on the Zubalashvili brothers — Georgian entrepreneurs and philanthropists — has gone on display at the Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi earlier today.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze will visit France with a delegation of Georgian lawmakers on January 14-16. He will meet with the President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher and President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand.
The legacy of Karlo Chkheidze, one of the major historical figures of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia, has been honoured with a publication of a memorial album and an unveiling of a plaque in Tbilisi.
The first meeting of a historic, French-Georgian dialogue format, named after the legendary Georgian officer and national hero of France Dimitri Amilakhvari, is scheduled to take place later today in Paris. Georgia is the first country in the region that France has accepted to have the dialogue with which aims to further strengthen cooperation in politics, defence, security, trade and finance, culture and education.
Georgian diplomat Gocha Javakhishvili has been appointed as Georgia’s new ambassador to France, the foreign ministry confirmed to agenda.ge on Tuesday.
Dynamics of the existing relationship between Georgia and France and prospects for deepening it were discussed on Thursday in a meeting between the Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili and Gocha Javakhishvili, the newly appointed ambassador to France.
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.
Gotcha Javakhishvili, Georgia’s newly appointed Ambassador to France, on Thursday stressed “a lot of work” was being done for restoring the historic Leuville estate in the country and its items of historical significance, in a response to a social media post that appeared to show photographs of disorderly conditions and negligence over items at the venue on Monday.