Glory Memorial
The Glory Memorial (Georgian: სამხედრო დიდების მემორიალი ქუთაისში, romanized: samkhedro didebis memoriali kutaisshi) is a former memorial located in Kutaisi, Georgia and designed by an architect Otar Kalandarishvili with participation of a sculptor-monumentalist Merab Berdzenishvili. It was dedicated in 1981 to the memory of those who died during World War II and featured a soldier on a horse stabbing a German soldier with a spear, an allusion to St. George slaying a dragon.
In the 1990s and 2000s the memorial sustained some damage to its front and two bells went missing. The monument was ordered demolished by then-President Mikheil Saakashvili on 21 December 2009 to make way for a new parliament building, killing two bystanders with falling debris in the hasty process. Due to this, the Governor of Imereti Region was fired.[1][2] Prison sentences ranging from 2 to 4 years were handed out by the Kutaisi City Court in February 2010 to the management of the Sakpetkmretsvi demolition company.[3] The bronze ornamental features of the monument were removed beforehand with plans to relocate them. The central horseman figure of the monument was re-installed near the parliament building in May 2021 on a new plinth after spending 13 years in storage.[4]
A similarly-shaped Glory Memorial was unveiled in 2010 at a ceremony attended by Vladimir Putin and Georgian opposition leaders Nino Burjanadze and Zurab Noghaideli.[5] Located on Moscow's Poklonnaya Hill, the memorial displays the words, "We were together in the struggle against fascism."[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Gachava, Nino (21 December 2009). "Georgian President Blasted Over Monument's Demolition". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
- ^ "Губернатор Имерети уволен из-за гибели людей при сносе мемориала: Бывший СССР: Lenta.ru" (in Russian). 10 March 2016. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Осуждены виновные за гибель людей при взрыве в Кутаиси". Радио Свобода (in Russian). 22 February 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Chapple, Amos (14 May 2021). "Georgia's Hypermodern Parliament Building Faces Uncertain Future". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Russia Unveils New Monument To WWII Victims, Angering Georgia". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- ^ Karaia, Tamar (2017). "Memory Strategies in Contemporary Georgia". Środkowoeuropejskie Studia Polityczne. 4: 6.