Vera cemetery ( ka, ვერის სასაფლაო, hy, Վերայի գերեզմանատուն) is cemetery in Vera district in
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
History
The cemetery in Tbilisi Vera district was founded in 1836. In 1844 an Armenian church, Holy Cross (Surb Khach), was built inside the cemetery by David Tamashev's financial support. Later, the territory of cemetery was expanded. Many famous Armenians of Tiflis were buried in the cemetery, including: General Yeremia Artsuni, the first mayor of Tiflis; Harutyun Tumanyan, writer and teacher; landowner Natalia Skhhoyan; the businessman, industrialist and tobacco manufacturer Mikhail Bozarchyants; linguist, educator and armenologist Shahan Jrpetyan; the first zincographer of Tiflis Sarkis Soghomonyan; architect Gavril Ter-Mikelov; doctor Nikoghayos Khudadyan, etc.
After 1920 funerals in the cemetery were stopped.
Georganisation
In 1992, with coming to power of
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia ( ka, ზვიად გამსახურდია, tr; russian: Звиа́д Константи́нович Гамсаху́рдия, Zviad Konstantinovich Gamsakhurdiya; 31 March 1939 – 31 December 1 ...
, the cemetery was vandalized. Gamsakhurdia followers began to destroy the cemetery. During the reconstruction of the church of the Holy Cross (Surb Khach) on the initiative of Georgian composer Nodar Gigauri, it was renamed the Church of
Saint Pantaleon
Saint Pantaleon ( el, Παντελεήμων, russian: Пантелеи́мон, translit=Panteleímon; "all-compassionate"), counted in the West among the late-medieval Fourteen Holy Helpers and in the East as one of the Holy Unmercenary Hea ...
and turned into a Georgian Orthodox church. Tombstones inside the church, under which were stored the urn with the ashes of the dead, were covered with Turkish tiles. In the cemetery, space for new graves for Georgians were created by destroying the graves of Armenian burials.
The cemetery of Vera was known with its familial tombs: Ananovs, Yenikolopovs, Tsurinovs, Kamoyans, Babanasovs, Avan Yuzbashyans, Argutyans, etc. Today, the graves of many famous Armenians are without tombstones.Грузинское кладбище на костях армян ‘‘(Georgian cemetery on the bones of Armenians’’) in Analitika.at.ua by Razmik Muradyan
See also
*
Armenians in Tbilisi
The Armenians have historically been one of the main ethnic groups in the city of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Armenians are the largest ethnic minority in Tbilisi at 4.8% of the population. Armenians migrated to the Georgian lands in the M ...