Batumi tragic love story. The sculpture “Love” in Batumi is the most romantic monument
In the seaside city of Batumi there is a huge statue that testifies to true love. Every resident of Georgia and all guests of the city know the history of the sculpture “Ali and Nino”. For the sake of the spectacle of personified history, thousands of tourists come to Batumi to at least once look at the incredible and amazing sculpture.
Love story
In 1937, a novel was published that won the hearts of millions. A tragic story can cause admiration or joy, tears and disappointment. This is a novel about hearts in love who went through everything in order to be together. In him main characters Ali and Nino. For religious reasons, the couple could not be together, because the guy was a Muslim and the girl was a Christian. The life of young people is described in vivid colors: they had to survive both the revolution and civil war, witness the formation of the Azerbaijan Republic.
The novel describes in detail the beauty, nature and life of Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Persia and Tiflis. Although most of events took place in Baku, famous sculpture“Ali and Nino” was erected in Batumi (Georgia).
Features of the statue
This is very unusual sculpture because she is in constant motion. For this reason, many call such a miracle an installation. The creator and author of the symbol of the southern republic is Tamara Kvesitadze. The main task of the architect is to recreate all the experiences and difficulties that young people experienced in the famous history.
The sculpture of love “Ali and Nino” reaches eight meters in height and consists of two separate figures. You will immediately understand what each statue represents. If you look closely, you can see how the integrity of the figures is broken and there are gaps. But this is not without reason, because this innovative solution is the essence of the installation.
If you manage to visit Batumi, be sure to visit the famous sculpture “Ali and Nino”. Please note that for a beautiful spectacle, the city authorities set the installation in motion at 19:00 every evening. As you pass by, stop and just remember the tragic story of a man and woman who fought for their happiness to the last.
Why is this installation so amazing?
The sculpture “Ali and Nino” in Batumi is a continuous movement of huge buildings. To understand the whole essence of the installation, you need to spend 10 minutes of your life and enjoy the wonderful spectacle. You will see how two statues slowly approach each other, gradually uniting into a single whole, and then diverge in different directions.
Tamara Kvesitadze was able to convey all the tragedy, because Ali and Nino always met on the sly for the sake of love, but eternal difficulties threw them in different directions. Surprisingly, the difficult but inspiring story ended well, and the young people were able to get married.
View from the outside
In the video, the installation appears so large that it almost reaches the roof of a multi-story building. In fact, the height of the Ali and Nino sculpture does not exceed ten meters (including the stand). Based on reviews from tourists, we can say that even small size The installation evokes delight and surprise. The moral here is simple: lovers need to travel a long way to sneak into the arms of their other half. It’s about halves and we're talking about, because two figures pass through each other, literally merging into a single whole.
Tourists' opinions:
- This installation is so magnificent that it makes you want to take a closer look at the famous novel.
- The figures move very slowly and pass through each other for 10-15 minutes, while they make a circle.
- The sculpture is mesmerizing; it is impossible to take your eyes off it. All the time that you spend near the pedestal, you begin to remember your love story. At such moments, you can feel a shiver throughout your body.
- It is recommended to watch man’s creation in the evening or at night, as the beautiful lighting turns on.
Look at the photo and see for yourself: Tamara Kvesitadze has recreated a wonderful installation that will amaze for many years to come.
How to get there
You need to get to the embankment of the square along Rustaveli Avenue and turn onto Gogebashvili Street. After the roundabout you will see a huge square from which you can see the Batumi lighthouse, the majestic KEMPINSKI hotel and the Ferris wheel. When you get to the embankment, use our landmarks. You will find the famous installation just 100 meters from the Ferris wheel.
Advice: until 2010 famous statue was called "Lovers", and on the map it is indicated as a metal sculpture "LOVE". However, more recently it has been dubbed the famous sculpture “Ali and Nino”. The description above will help you easily find your way to an unforgettable installation.
We are confident that the work of art will inspire you. But don’t be disappointed if the figures seem small to you. Just wait until dark and enjoy the pleasant spectacle in seaside Batumi.
Every city in Georgia has its own flavor. A unique, beautiful and unusual highlight. Batumi was no exception. Here, at the very entrance to the city, there is a very original statue, which was installed in 2011. From the very first day of its existence, the statue received a simple name - “Man and Woman”. But soon the city residents renamed it and gave it another name - Ali and Nino. But few who come to Georgia know who Ali and Nino are and why these huge seven-meter figures are named by these names.
And few people realize that Ali and Nino are two people who, by the will of fate, were first united into one whole, and then again, by fate, separated forever...
And this tragic and bright love story is described in the book of the same name, the authorship of which is attributed to Kurban Said. However, there are two other authors who could also write this wonderful book. One of them is Lev Nussimbaum, a German who converted to Islam. He, like the hero of the novel, studied at the Baku gymnasium. Some even claim that Kurban Said is just a pseudonym for Lev Nussimbautu. Second possible author text - Yusif Chemenzeminli, Azerbaijani writer. His daughters, like Nino, studied at the Baku girls’ gymnasium.
The names Ali and Nino are well known in Georgia. It is for this reason that after installing the sculpture local residents renamed these figures and gave them real names. And those buildings in Baku that are described in the book have survived in the city to this day. But they are not included in any guidebook, and none of the tourists simply know about their existence, unless, of course, local residents tell about it. And there really is something to talk about.
The main character of the work is Ali Khan Shirvanshir. He is a descendant of an ancient and noble aristocratic family Shirvanshirov. Once upon a time, long ago, the ancestor of Ali Khan named Ibrahim Khan, with his own hands, handed over to the ruler of Baku the sword with which the Russian general Tsitsianishvili was stabbed to death. Throughout the entire novel, Ali Khan's parents remain adherents of Asian culture and everything European in their souls does not find shelter. But Ali Khan himself is brought up in the most regular school and is also experiencing the power of the West there.
At the same time, the daughter of the Prince of Georgia, Nino Kipiani, is studying at the girls' gymnasium. And one day Ali met a girl not far from the place where the gymnasium itself is located. Friendship first strikes up between young people, and then real first love breaks out.
Ali constantly helps his young friend with her homework; they often meet in the Governor’s Garden, where they walk along its alleys and kiss for the first time. But the trouble was that Ali Khan was a Muslim, and Nino was a Christian. And the clash of these two religions is very vividly described in the novel itself.
But through his love for Nino, Ali Khan begins to get used to the Christian faith more and more, to come closer and closer to to the European world and its traditions. After the young people finish their studies, Ali proposes to Nino. But at first the girl refuses, and only when Ali promises her that he will not require her to wear a veil and will not marry anyone else, Nino agrees. Ali Khan's father is not at all against this state of affairs and approves of the wedding, but Nino's father is strongly opposed to his daughter becoming the wife of a Muslim.
In the summer, the young couple and their parents leave for Shusha, where Ali encounters an aristocrat from Armenia Melik Nahararyan. The guys strike up a friendship, but Melik is attracted to the beautiful Nino at first sight and makes every effort to take the girl with him to Sweden.
But then the First flares up World War. All Muslims were exempted from military service and participation in hostilities, but they still went to war. But Ali Khan did not go. And this greatly angered his father. I didn’t understand my lover and Nino. However, Ali Khan did not want to go to war for any reason. Russian Empire.
And then Melik suddenly arrives in Baku and organizes the kidnapping of the girl. Nino is not very opposed to this kidnapping. Her ardent love for Ali is already beginning to cool down and the girl really misses adventures. But Ali Khan, in anger, overtakes the fugitives on his horse and, during a fight that breaks out between the young people, kills Nahararyan. After this murder, Ali turns out to be a blood enemy of the Nahararyan family, and in order to save his life he is forced to hide in a Dagestan village. After some time, Nino finds him. Ali Khan forgives his beloved, and they arrange a wedding according to all Muslim traditions. During this marriage, the girl Tamara is born.
At the end of the book, Russian soldiers capture Baku. Ali Khan sends his beloved to Tbilisi, while he remains to defend his homeland. He never accepted the Russian Empire and Ali dies during a battle with Russian soldiers.
An unusually beautiful statue in Batumi is named after these two people - the courageous and proud Ali Khan and the flighty but faithful Nino. As in life, the seven-meter statues of a girl and a boy first approach each other, then merge into a single whole, and at the very end they part once and for all. But, despite this separation, they will always live in their hearts. eternal love, respect and admiration for each other will always live on.
Well, all we can do is watch this sacred merger and sad parting, which will exist as long as the world exists.
The statues themselves are made of steel. Every 10 minutes they begin to move towards each other, and then merge into a single sculpture, and then disperse again. But the best way to contemplate the monument is in dark time days. Then this movement looks like magic dance love and at the same time so much charm emanates from him that it is simply impossible not to succumb to him.
Many tourist cities have their own highlights, captured in the form of historical monuments, architecture, and painting. Places like the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen or Manneken Pis in Brussels become a magnet, attracting crowds of tourists and meeting places for couples. The sculpture of Ali and Nino in Batumi (Batumi, Georgia), which has no analogues in the world, attracts a full house every evening on the seaside embankment resort town. Men and women confess their love to each other, take pictures against the backdrop of a mesmerizing picture, and shoot on video.
Heroes love story
When creating the sculpture of Ali and Nino, the famous Georgian sculptor Tamara Kvesitadze drew inspiration from the ancient romantic legend. The love story of the Georgian princess Nino Kipiani and the Azerbaijani Muslim Ali Khan Shirvanshir took place at the beginning of the 20th century, against the backdrop of tragic events The First World War, the Bolshevik Revolution, civil strife. The novel “Nino and Ali” was first published in 1937 in Germany. It was written by a mysterious author hiding under the pseudonym Kurban Said. The manuscript was left anonymously at book publishing house, and after publication it became a bestseller. The work has been translated into 30 languages, films have been made based on it, and performances have been staged. The main events take place in Baku, on the territory of modern Armenia.
Young people meet while studying in Baku gymnasiums located not far from each other. The Governor's Garden becomes the place for romantic meetings, where the first kiss and declaration of love take place. The marriage proposal of an ardent young man does not meet with approval from the family of a girl who professes the Christian religion. They are scared Muslim traditions and the attitude towards a woman in Islam, so the wedding is postponed under various pretexts.
At this time, a close friend of the family, secretly in love with Nino, kidnaps her with the aim of marrying her and taking her to Sweden. Ali finds the offender, kills him in a fierce battle and frees his beloved. They get married and begin to live together, but the revolution and the events that followed it force them to leave their homeland and find temporary refuge in Persia. After the proclamation of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic, Ali and Nino return to Baku and their daughter Tamara is born. The novel ends tragically, war comes again, Ali dies in a battle with Russian troops on the Ganja Bridge, and Nino leaves with her daughter for her homeland in Georgia.
History of the creation of the monument
A native of Georgia, and now a US citizen, Tamara Kvesitadze worked on creating a sculpture of Ali and Nino for two years, trying to convey her emotions from reading the novel as much as possible. in an original way. Her creation was first demonstrated at the Venice festival in 2007 and was included in the list of leaders audience choice, receiving high marks from the public and professional critics. The demonstration in London also made a lasting impression on connoisseurs contemporary art. The audience was simply fascinated by the realized idea of figures moving towards them, gradually merging into one whole.
The monument, made of metal plates, is striking in photographs and videos with its size, towering against the backdrop of the city landscape. In fact, the height of the statue of love in Batumi does not exceed 10 meters. Every day after 7 pm, lovers will have to move towards each other for 10 minutes in order to merge together. The moving figures are designed to merge into one silhouette as they approach. The unusual futuristic design captivates the eye when the figures of a girl and a guy converge at one point, as if merging in a loving embrace.
Beloved by many, it was installed in 2010 and since then has delighted citizens and tourists every day. Original name“Man and Woman” did not accurately characterize the composition, so it was replaced by “Ali and Nino” in 2011. During daylight hours it is impossible to fully enjoy the view of the monument, since most of the day it is static. But when the sun sets below the horizon, the colorful lighting of the sculptural ensemble turns on, giving the figures a mysterious and enchanting shade.
How to get there
The sculpture delights city residents and tourists on the embankment running along Rustaveli Avenue. It is located on the territory of the Wonderland Park, next to the Kempinski Hotel. Nearby is the Ferris Wheel, Batumi Lighthouse, Georgian Alphabet Tower, Chachi Tower. You can visit the attraction on your own by getting to the embankment by public transport or as part of an excursion group. It is better to plan your visit at evening time, since you can fully enjoy the view of figures moving against the background of the night sky after sunset.
