The National Botanical Garden of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს ეროვნული ბოტანიკური ბაღი), formerly the Tbilisi Botanical Garden (Georgian: თბილისის ბოტანიკური ბაღი), is located in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, and lies in the Tsavkisis-Tskali Gorge on the southern foothills of the Sololaki Range (a spur of the Trialeti Range). It occupies an area of 161 hectares and possesses a collection of over 4,500 taxonomic groups.
Its history spans more than three centuries. It was first described in 1671 by the French traveller Jean Chardin as royal gardens, which might have been founded at least in 1625 and were variably referred to as "fortress gardens" or "Seidabad gardens" later in history. The gardens appear in the records by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1701) and on the Tbilisi, map composed by Prince Vakhushti (1735). Pillaged in the Persian invasion of 1795, the garden was revived in the early 19th century and officially established as the Tiflis Botanical Garden in 1845.
From 1888 on, when a floristics center was set up, Yuri Voronov and several other notable scholars have worked for the Garden. Between 1896 and 1904, the Garden was expanded further westward. Between 1932 and 1958, the territory around the former Muslim cemetery was included in the botanical garden. Several graves have survived, however, including that of the prominent Azerbaijani writer Mirza Fatali Akhundov (1812-1878). The central entrance to the Garden is located at the foothills of the Narikala Fortress. The other, cut through the rock as a long tunnel in 1909–14, had been functional until the mid-2000s when the tunnel was converted into Georgia's largest nightclub "Gvirabi".
In Georgia, the import, propagation, and selection of plants from foreign countries have been occurring since ancient times. Greek myths even mention the famous medicinal plant garden of Colchis' Medea and her mother Circe. In the Georgian language, the garden has several synonyms that denote its decorative and healing purpose - "Place Greens", "Tsalkot", "Paradise", "Bagnari", and others.
According to the maps of Tbilisi compiled by Vakhushti Batonishvili (1735), Pishevich (1735), and Chuiko (1800), three small gardens were cultivated in different parts of what is today's botanical garden, and they were the property of kings. Historian Plato Ioseliani noted that the distinctive Georgian kings cultivated a garden in Leghvtakhevi, in front of the palace. French traveler Jean-Baptiste Chardin's records indicate that the royal garden was maintained by the wife of the last king of Kartli-Kakheti, Queen Mary 12.
Since 1801, after Georgia's accession to Russia, the royal court's garden was renamed the "Tbilisi Treasury Garden".
On May 1, 1845, by decree of the Viceroy of the Caucasus, Count Mikhail Vorontsov, the royal garden was renamed the "Tbilisi Botanical Garden", and its care was overseen by the Viceroy of the Caucasus himself. For almost a century, the Tbilisi Botanical Garden was the only scientific hub in the Caucasus. During this time, a small orangery of woody plants was built, retaining walls were constructed, and three terraces were arranged. Fruit tree and vine seedlings, ornamental plants, and new varieties of vegetables were given out free of charge. An irrigation system was also established.
The garden was subsequently led by prominent garden decorators and dendrologists. In the second half of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, a gardening school was opened in the botanical garden, and the garden was referred to as the "Garden of the Gardener School". The garden was constructed in 12 stages; in 1872, orangery materials were imported from France, and in 1873, a small, arched orangery was built. By the end of 1875, 1238 species of open ground and orangery plants (including pineapple culture) were cultivated in the garden. In addition, there were 134 varieties of roses. The first catalog of the botanical garden was published. A botanical garden museum was organized, the basis for the collection of herbariums of Caucasus plants was laid, and a library was established.
From 1899, Adolf Christian Rollov served as the head of the botanical garden. During this period, the botanical garden evolved into a large scientific institution, with properly equipped laboratories and offices.
Well-known Georgian scientists such as Niko Ketskhoveli, Levan Kanchaveli, Vladimir Menabde, Ksenia Bakhtadze, Tamar Sulakadze, Levan Japaridze, and Mikheil Sakhokia worked and were educated in the botanical garden. Since 1913, only one Georgian botanist – Luba Kemularia – worked in the botanical garden.
Academicians Vasil Gulatishvili and Mamia Gogolishvili greatly contributed to the revival and development of the botanical garden in the twentieth century.
The plant introductions and flowering departments were restored and revived, a plant protection laboratory was established. The publication of the collection of scientific works "Botanical Garden" was resumed; collections of bright forests and Himalayan trees and shrubs of eastern Transcaucasians were cultivated. The laboratory of plant physiology was established, along with the agrotechnics, nature protection, and scientific information departments of medicinal plants, and flowering-decorative plants. An administrative and laboratory building was constructed, along with a laboratory building for medicinal plants and an orangery with a laboratory. A new irrigation system was installed throughout the garden. In 1956, the construction of the artistic and decorative corner - Parter was completed (author: landscape architect, honored figure of art Giorgi Managadze).
Under the leadership of Mamma Loria, the Dendrological Museum of Woody Plants was opened, a collectible plot of rare and extinct species of flora of Georgia and Syringarium (Lilac Collection) were created.
It is noteworthy that in 2009, for the first time in the South Caucasus, a working meeting of the International Council of Botanical Gardens (BGCI) was held in Tbilisi, attended by BGCI Secretary-General Sarah Oldfield and Director of Regional Programs Joachim Gratsfeld, as well as representatives of the Missouri, Brooklyn, and Edinburgh Botanical Gardens.
In 2011, the National Botanical Garden of Georgia received funding from the Royal Botanical Garden and the Raford Foundation (UK) to support the rehabilitation and expansion of the plant conservation department building. The restoration of historical monuments in the botanical garden began, the central bridge was renovated, two towers, a fragment of the fence of Narikala was renovated, as well as the Tamara Bridge, and the historical building at the central entrance.
Today, the area of the botanical garden is 97 hectares. About 40 hectares are occupied by plantings, roads, and buildings, with 58 hectares of natural vegetation. The local flora of the garden is rich, with about 800 species of higher plants. The collection of plants in the botanical garden consists of about 3500 species, subspecies, and cultivars.
There are 6 scientific and research departments in the National Botanical Garden of Georgia: Caucasus Department of Rare Extinct and Medicinal Plants, Woody Plant Introduction, Public Relations and Marketing, Flowering and Landscape Design, Plant Conservation, Plant and Soil Protection. In addition, the garden houses a tropical plant orangery and a nursery.