Glory Memorial

The Glory Memorial 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 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 2009, the monument was demolished to make way for a new parliament building, killing two bystanders with falling debris. The monument was ordered demolished by then-President Mikheil Saakashvili.[1] After the structure was demolished, Vladimir Putin, then Prime Minister of Russia pledged to rebuild the monument in Moscow, stating that the monument had "artistic value" and wanted to work with the monument's original creator to rebuild the monument, though Berdzenishvili (architect Otar Kalandarishvili died in 2003) declined.[2]

The rebuilt Glory Memorial was unveiled in 2010 at a ceremony attended by Vladimir Putin and Georgian opposition leaders Nino Burjanadze and Zurab Noghaideli.[3] Located on Moscow's Poklonnaya Hill, the memorial displays the words, "We were together in the struggle against fascism."[4]

References
  1. Gachava, Nino (21 December 2009). "Georgian President Blasted Over Monument's Demolition". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  2. "WWII memorial blown up in Georgia to be rebuilt in Moscow – Putin". Ruptly. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  3. "Russia Unveils New Monument To WWII Victims, Angering Georgia". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  4. Karaia, Tamar (2017). "Memory Strategies in Contemporary Georgia". Środkowoeuropejskie Studia Polityczne. No. 4: 6.

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