Martvili Museum of Local Lore

History of Martvili Museum

The museum was founded in 1957 by the historian Givi Eliava, and most of the museum's exhibits were obtained by him. Today, the museum has about 53,000 artifacts collected from four districts of Samegrelo Region: Martvili, Abasha, Senaki, and Chkhorotsku.

What can you see at the Martvili Museum of Local Lore?

The collection, which tells the history of Martvili and its surroundings, includes archaeological artifacts from the Early Stone and Bronze Ages, tools and weapons, ritual stones, and jewelry.

In the museum, you can also see a rich numismatic collection: the coins from the 4th-2nd centuries B.C., Colchis Tetri, a collection of silver coins from the 10th-18th centuries, manuscripts, and deeds from the 18th-19th centuries.

A unique collection of beads found in ancient tombs is also kept here. In addition to beads made of local material, archaeologists also found different jewelry in the tombs, such as pieces of amber and Egyptian faience, proving the trade connections with foreign countries.

Among the exhibits of the museum are the bones of the lower jaw and pelvis of an herbivorous rhinoceros, whose age is approximately 11-14 million years! Fossilized plant samples are also presented, and their ages have been determined as ranging between 11-13 million years.

On the territory of Martvili, bronze ingots, plaster casts, ceramic pipes and other remains of metallurgical production have been found at various times, proving the existence through history of a powerful center of metallurgy here.

Other interesting exhibits include samples of old Colchis wheat and grain crops.

Tourists are particularly interested in the frescoes preserved in the museum, taken from the Martvili church in the 1960s. Among these are "Bzoba/Entry into Jerusalem," "The Archangel Gabriel," "St. Luke the Evangelist," and "St. Matthew the Evangelion is drawn to the precious carpet of King Erekle II of Kartli-Kakheti, which was saved after a fire broke outist."

In the Martvili Museum, attent in Telavi Palace. Moreover, silver jugs covered with ornaments, on which the face of Queen Tamar is imprinted, are very interesting too. Here, you will also see the paintings of Georgian artists Lado Gudiashvili and Elene Akhvlediani.

Finally, in the yard of the museum, unique and endangered varieties of Colchis vine are planted, while the museum also has its own cellar, where grapes are pressed, and guests are served with the museum’s own wine.