Svaneti activists protest to draw authorities' attention to erosion of family towers

Local residents held a rally during which they demanded from the authorities to start the restoration of family towers in the village of Merkmeli affected by erosion. The old building will be put in order by the end of the year, reports the spokesperson for the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia.

On August 12, residents of Mestia blocked roads and demanded from the authorities to pay attention to the collapse of the two upper levels of the Charkseliani family tower, the "Rustavi-2" TV Company reported. According to the activists, after the incident, the authorities did not bother to restore the historical monument. The activists demanded from the authorities to send experts to the place of the tower collapse to examine the ancient buildings and start their reconstruction.

Beka Baramidze, the head of the PR Department of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia, told reporters that the agency would try to begin the restoration of the object as soon as possible. According to Beka Baramidze, an online tender for "emergency recovery" will be announced for the above purpose, and the basic works will be completed before the end of the year.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 13, 2019 at 05:21 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.