Fund Cartu Gifts Georgia Architectural Miniatures Park
SHEKVETILI- Charity Foundation Cartu Fund has gifted a new theme park ‘Georgia in Miniatures’ to the State. The park, located in the Black Sea coastal resort of Shekvetili, west Georgia, presents 44 miniatures of architectural monuments from all around Georgia. Of 1:25 scale, they aim to display the rich architectural heritage of the country.
Cartu Fund also donated to the State a unique database which includes accurate measurement and drawings of all of the park's miniature prototypes- both expensive and valuable information for the National Agency of Monument Protection.
The handover ceremony was held Saturday. The document was signed by the Cartu Fund Board Chairman, Nikoloz Chkhetiani, and the Deputy Economic Minister, Genadi Arveladze.
As Nikoloz Chkhetiani exclusively told GEORGIA TODAY, the idea of the project belongs to the Fund and its founder and donor, ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili.
“Many foreign countries have such parks and they mainly serve for the development of tourism. Our aim was the same- stimulating tourism and demonstrating the culture of our country,” Chkhetiani told us.
He says a special commission was set up, composed of Georgian art critics and specialists, who chose the most outstanding architectural monuments according to certain criteria.
“These criteria were: uniqueness, importance and individualism of the monuments. They also needed to be from different eras and needed to have different functions, as the Park is meant to be highly interesting and diverse,” Chkhetiani said.
The Cartu Fund Chairman noted that at present there are 44 miniatures of cultural monuments in the Park. However, 5 more miniatures are to be added in the near future and by 2017 there will be 57 miniatures in total.
Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, also attended the handover ceremony where he thanked Cartu Fund and Bidzina Ivanishvili for the gift.
“I am sure the Park will become a favorite of both Georgian citizens and tourists alike,” he stated.
The construction process of the Park was launched in summer 2014 on 2 hectares of land owned by Cartu Group and which encompassed the concrete base of an abandoned former sewing factory.
The project was designed by 'Laboratory of Architecture #3,' according to whom visitors go through a poetic space, flanked on one side by a 60 meter long curved black bamboo fence and on the other by a ribbed fiber concrete pavilion. The characteristic intensive light of the sun plays a crucial role in forming a dynamic and colorful composition.
The Park complex includes the miniatures and a visitor center, which has a mini-amphitheater, cafes and other functional spaces.
Cartu Fund invested 10 million GEL in the project. This is the second gift of the Foundation to the State, the first being the Black Sea Arena, also in Shekvetili, designed by German architects, which can accommodate about 10,000 spectators and can host concerts, sport competitions and other events.
Thea Morrison