9th of April Park

History of the Garden

The territory that the old garden covered was full of trade pavilions, where you could taste Mitrofane Lagidze's famous sweet sodas. There was a cannon on the upper terrace of the garden, which fired every day at exactly noon. Between 1885-1888, the architect Albert Salzmann built the Russian Military History Museum inside the garden, which is now the National Gallery.

The Garden Today

Due to the construction of the tram line in the past century, Alexander Garden was divided into two parts, with the Giorgi Leonidze Garden located in the lower part and the 9th of April Garden in the upper part. The latter was given its name after the events of 1989. On the 9th of April, the Soviet army dispersed the strike of people who gathered on Rustaveli Avenue demanding Georgian independence. 427 people were injured and 21 died. During the raid, many people took refuge in the Kashveti church and the nearby garden.

Today, the 9th of April Garden is one of the best places to relax in the central part of the city.