Bronze monument “Kolkhish Nana” stolen from Georgia’s Dadiani Palace yard

On Feb 05, Employees at Georgia’s historical Dadiani Palace has reportedly noticed that the bronze monument “Kolkhish Nana” of the Colchian goddess, a copy of an artefact of the 8th century BC, was missing earlier this morning from the yard of the Dadiani Palace located in the Samegrelo region’s city of Zugdidi.

The Dadiani Palace’s staff members have also said that this sculpture had been damaged even several times before.

This bronze monument, “Kolkhish Nana”, was installed in the year 2018 and has been the target of vandals who call themselves the fighters against idolatry.

Anzor Okujava, the Museum’s Director, has told the press that some people have vandalised the sculpture even several times before too. “They even left a letter saying they had vandalised the monument because they had been fighting against idolatry”, but the monument itself has been taken this time.

By noting this matter, the Interior Ministry of Georgia has started an investigation to find out the culprits who have stolen this bronze monument.

Moreover, the bronze monument is a copy of an archaeological find which is discovered during the excavations in the village of Tsaishi of the Zugdidi in 2005. The artefact was created in the first half of the 8th century BC. The prototype of the Colchian goddess was probably the Phrygian deity Cybele.

Dadiani Palace History And Architectural

David Dadiani founded his family’s museum in 1839. It is a Neo-Gothic building. According to the reports, Dadiai Palace is one of the oldest museums in the Caucasus region, and it currently has more than 41,000 items. The items range from the second millennium BC to the end of the 19th century AD.

Some of the most exciting items include Napoleon’s death mask dated 1833, a Napoleonic library of several hundred volumes, private letters, and Napoleonic silver and chinaware.