When heading from the Shota Rustaveli Monument towards Freedom Square, there is a massive, modern style building on the left-hand side of the street that occupies an entire block on the opposite side from Georgia’s National Academy of Sciences. The house was built by well-known Georgian-Armenian Alexander Melik-Azaryants in memory of his early deceased 22-year-old daughter, as shown by the abundance of mourning wreaths on its façades and by the teardrop-shaped windows at its corner.
Melik-Azaryants was a local merchant who owned oil deposits in Azerbaijan and extensively funded the construction of hospitals, schools, and churches. The building was designed by architect Nikolay Obolonskyi in 1909 and all the construction was completed in three years’ time. Unlike similar buildings of Tbilisi in that period, the house had its own power supply, water pipes, and heating; there was an art gallery and a garden full of exotic plants, cinema, and a photo salon.
After the Bolshevik Revolution, the building was nationalized and Melik-Azaryants, who unlike many Armenians, refused to emigrate and opted to remain in the country. His fate was tragic – he was left without any means and moved by authorities to a small basement room in one of his own buildings. He ultimately died there and was buried through the support of his friends.
