Tbilisi Observatory

Tbilisi Observatory, a medieval astronomical observatory in Tbilisi. According to the Arab geographer Istakhri (930), it was located on Narikala in Tbilisi at the end of the 8^th century. The founder of the Maragheh observatory, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274), invited the prominent scientist, physician, philosopher and astronomer Fakhr al-Din al-Akhlati (1191–1284), who worked here in the 13^th century, to draw up a project for this observatory and plan its future work. It seems that the observatory continued to exist during the Mongol era.

In recent years, during archaeological excavations at Narikala, reconstruction work has uncovered an ornate stone dial with hour markers, designed with motifs of the zodiac constellations, and equipped with a gnomon holder, a necessary detail characteristic of a sundial.

 

Literature: გვრიტი­შვი­ლი  დ., მესხია შ., თბილისის ისტორია, თბ., 1952; ჯაფარიძე  გ., XIII საუკუნის თბილელი მეცნიერი მარაღის ობსერვატორიაში, «მაცნე». ისტორიის, არქეოლ., ეთნოგრ. და ხელოვნ. ისტორიის სერია, 1984, №2; Бадриашвили  Н., Тбилиси, Тб., 1957.

 

G. Giorgobiani