Construction on Royal Christening Place – Topic for Disagreement

Sopo Getsadze

The construction is going on at the Royal Christening Place. Reportedly, an entertainment lounge is being constructed there. However, the owner denied the fact and said he is building a residential house.

The Royal Christening Place is located between ancient Pompeius Bridge and new motor-bridge in Mtskheta. According to Georgian historians, St. Elioz Mtskheteli and his sister – St. Sidonya lived in the area; St. Nino baptized King Mirian and Queen Nana there too.(video)

Historian Gia Parkaia told the Human Rights Center that this allegation is confirmed by the ancient books such as: “Kartlis Tskhovreba” (Life of Kartli), “Moktsevai Kartlisai” (Baptizing of Kartli), Sabinin’s “Georgian Paradise”, Shatberdi’s Collected Stories and Manuscript from Sinai Mountain.

Tornike Mzhavanadze, representative of the land owner Omar Purtsliani, denies the allegation. “Initially, they claimed King Mirian and Queen Nana were baptized in the area with total space of 300 sq. meters. It is ridiculous to make similar statements; you have visited the area and saw the inclination of the rock there. So, nobody could be baptized in the area.”

Representatives of the Center for Ecological Law allege that Purtseliani destroyed the rock. Lawyer Nikoloz Mzhavanadze from the Center said in fact there was a rock in the area but it was recently destroyed; it is ecological crime.

Tornike Mzhavanadze denied the information. He said the builders did not destroy the rock at all. In addition, they received recommendations about the construction in the area from the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection. The letter from the Georgian Patriarchate did not contain any recommendation. “They wrote – we think, construction in the area is not reasonable,” said Tornike Mzhavanadze.

Purtseliani purchased the land of about 2 000 sq. meters from the state and from two neighbors. The Human Rights Center started inquiries about the construction because of the abovementioned circumstances. The point is that, lawful owner of the disputable plot - Eter Mrevlishvili was refused at the Mtskheta municipality board to have it registered. “I was trying to register the plot for 18 months and finally they refused to register it on my name. They spoke about different reasons; finally I requested written clarification of their refusal. The conclusion states: the plot is located on the embankment and relatively cannot be privatized.”

Despite that, the neighbors of Mrevlishvili had their plots on the embankment registered and started constructions there. Several days after Mrevlishvili was refused at the district administration, the plot was bided at the auction. Mrevlishvili said she was not informed about the auction at all. She was still working on her documents when the officials of the municipality board told her that her plot was sold at the auction at 12:00 am on the same day.

The representatives of the Mtskheta district administration have different opinion about the issue. Head of economy, statistic, property management and infrastructure development of the Mtskheta district administration Leri Tkemaladze said the place of construction belonged to a private person and the state cannot be responsible for the sold private properties.

Georgian Patriarchate has different position. “According to our information, they were constructing a house in the area; though the space and style of the house comply neither with the art standards nor with the character of holly place. It is a holly place and we think, the embankment shall be free for parishioners. The movement of parishioners shall be envisaged when projecting the buildings in the area,” said Tamar Kvantaliani, Architecture Council Member at the Patriarchate.

It is noteworthy that an Ancient Pompeius Bridge, with the status of monument, is located in the holly place. Relatively, the plot is within a reserved territory. However, the Agency for the Monument Protection clarified that the construction can be launched in the area.

“The constructions, which can damage the view of the monument, are prohibited in the reserved territories. It means the monument shall be seen from every place. You know, the Pompeius Bridge is sometimes seen sometimes hidden under the water. So, the construction cannot hinder visitors to view the monument,” said Nikoloz Antidze, head of legal office at the Agency.

As we have found out, the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection is not going to grant a separate status to the territory. In addition, they suggested the property owner to agree the project with the Patriarchate.