Open Air Museum of Ethnography, Tbilisi

Open Air Museum of Ethnography, Tbilisi

The Giorgi Chitaia Open Air Museum of Ethnography is an open-air museum in Tbilisi, displaying the examples of folk architecture and craftwork from various regions of the country. The museum is named after Giorgi Chitaia, a Georgian ethnographer, who founded the museum on April 27, 1966. Since December 30, 2004, it has been administered as part of the Georgian National Museum.

The museum is located west to Turtle Lake on a hill overlooking the Vake district, Tbilisi. It is essentially a historic village populated by buildings moved there from all main territorial subdivisions of Georgia. The museum occupies 52 hectares of land and is arranged in eleven zones, displaying around 70 buildings and more than 8,000 items.

The exhibition features the traditional darbazi-type and fiat-roofed stone houses from eastern Georgia, openwork wooden houses with gable roofs of straw or boards from western Georgia, watchtowers from the mountainous provinces of Khevsureti, Pshavi, and Svaneti, Megrelian and Imeretian wattle maize storages, Kakhetian wineries (marani), and Kartlian water mills as well as a collection of traditional household articles such as distaffs, knitting-frames, chums, clothes, carpets, pottery and furniture. There are also an early Christian "Sioni" basilica from Tianeti and a 6th-7th century familial burial vault with sarcophagus.

Since 2004, the museum has been hosting an annual summertime folk culture festival Art-Gene founded and managed by the Georgian rock musician and folk enthusiast Zaza Korinteli ("Zumba").
Sight description based on Wikipedia.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Tbilisi. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The GPSmyCity App

Open Air Museum of Ethnography on Map

Sight Name: Open Air Museum of Ethnography
Sight Location: Tbilisi, Georgia (See walking tours in Tbilisi)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery

Walking Tours in Tbilisi, Georgia

Create Your Own Walk in Tbilisi

Create Your Own Walk in Tbilisi

Creating your own self-guided walk in Tbilisi is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Tbilisi Introduction Walking Tour

Tbilisi Introduction Walking Tour

A gateway to Georgia straddling the Mtkvari (Kura) River, the country's capital Tbilisi is one of the most historic cities in the Caucasus region, dating back over a thousand years. It was founded in the 5th century AD by the monarch of Iberia (Georgia's ancient precursor), King Vakhtang I Gorgasali.

According to legend, the king's falcon found the hot springs, near which the...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.8 Km or 2.4 Miles
Rustaveli Avenue Walking Tour

Rustaveli Avenue Walking Tour

If Tbilisi is the heart of Georgia, then Rustaveli Avenue is its pulse. As the capital's main artery, the importance – historical, cultural, or architectural – of this vibrant and bustling thoroughfare is hard to overestimate.

Named after the renowned medieval Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli, the avenue starts from Freedom Square – a key downtown landmark, home to the iconic statue of...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.5 Km or 1.6 Miles