Svaneti discovery of Roman coin to be explored at Mestia museum talk

A new discovery of a Roman coin in Georgia's northern highland province of Svaneti has sparked a fresh discussion on the history of the region and its connection to the outside world, with a public talk around the subjects to host audiences at a European Museum of the Year Award-nominated venue in Mestia next week.

The celebrated Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography, located in the picturesque mountainous province's town of Mestia, will open its doors on Tuesday for a talk by numismatist Maia Pataridze of the Georgian National Museum network.

Entitled 'Svaneti and the outside world in the Roman period, based on a new numismatic discovery', the talk will go into topics raised by the unearthing this year of a Roman denarius coin, moulded in 15 BCE, during the reign of Caesar Augustus.

A preview by the GNM said the finding had "made the question of Svaneti's relations with the outside world during the Roman period actual again." The network also said its interdisciplinary study had shown close political, economic and cultural connections of Svaneti - a relatively remote location - both inside Georgia and beyond its borders for a prolonged historical period.

The denarius will find its place in the collections of the numismatic section of the Mestia-based museum venue, and be open for public viewing. Its display will begin on May 29, the same date as the talk by Pataridze, set to start at 2pm local time.

The remarkable Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography is located at 7 Avtandil Ioseliani Street in Mestia.