Tbilisi Synagogue

Emergency stabilization and restoration

Located at a crossroads of Europe and Asia on the famous Silk Road, Tbilisi has faced repeated invasions since its founding in the fifth century as rival powers have sought to control its strategic position. Tbilisi Synagogue has been a landmark of Jewish culture in Georgia since its inauguration in 1903. The dome-shaped synagogue was being used as a museum of Jewish history and culture in Tbilisi when it suffered from an earthquake in April 2002, leaving it in imminent danger of collapse.

World Monuments Fund's Jewish Heritage Program awarded a grant to the site in 2002 for major stabilization efforts, including roof repairs, documentation and structural stability assessments. In 2004, WMF provided funds for the planning of the overall restoration and minor physical stabilization works to restore the synagogue. Work continued over the next years. Now completed, the synagogue building reopened as the D. Baazov Museum of Ethnography and History of Jews of Georgia.