Monument to the First Georgian Printing House

Stand near the Mtkvari River in the older districts of Tbilisi, and you will find a modest stone marker dedicated to a monumental shift in Georgian culture. This is the Monument to the First Georgian Printing House, a tribute to the exact site where King Vakhtang VI established the nation's first typography in 1709. Rather than just a piece of public art, it marks the birthplace of modern Georgian publishing and the physical preservation of the Georgian alphabet.

The Royal Typography of 1709

With the assistance of the scholar Anthim the Iberian, King Vakhtang VI brought the first moveable type to the Caucasus. The printing press fundamentally altered how knowledge circulated in the region. Before 1709, Georgian literature and religious texts relied entirely on the laborious process of hand-copying, making books a luxury few could afford. The establishment of this printing house democratized reading and standardized the written Georgian language.

Printing the National Epic

The crowning achievement of this press occurred in 1712 with the publication of the first printed edition of The Knight in the Panther's Skin (Vepkhistqaosani). Written by Shota Rustaveli in the 12th century, this epic poem is the undisputed masterpiece of Georgian literature. Printing it secured the text against loss and cemented its role as a unifying cultural force. The monument stands today as a quiet reminder of the scholars and artisans who worked here, forever changing the trajectory of Georgian letters.