Author: Nanuli Tskvediani

The story began on May 29, 1961. A large crowd from Kutaisi gathered on the left bank of the Rioni River, in Alexander Tsulukidze Square, adjacent to a newly constructed platform. They all watched a stretched cable, with its other end leading to a second station built in the Park of Culture and Leisure. Soon, a significant moment in the city’s recent history would unfold: two cable cars, filled with people, would move from the stations towards each other, floating above the wide channel of the Rioni River.

The first passengers in the cable cars, slightly tense, gazed in awe at the nearby and distant landscapes: the Church of Saint George, the ruins of Bagrati Cathedral, Mount Hvamli, the Nakerala Ridge, the hills of Mtsvanekvavila, the city center, the old royal residence of Okros Chardakhi, the winding banks of the Rioni encircling the districts of Bakhvani, Chain, Red and White Bridges, little houses hidden in greenery, autumnal courtyards…

Precisely at 5 o’clock, as was customary then, the First Secretary of the Kutaisi City Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, Comrade Shota Simonovich Kobakhidze, would cut the ceremonial ribbon. Applause from senior party comrades, city officials, representatives from education and culture, and guests from neighboring regions would follow, marking the beginning of the first journey to the park and back.

“The distance between the stations is 400 meters. The elevation difference between the stations is 55 meters. The travel time on this line is 80 seconds. The maximum speed is 5 meters per second. Both directions can transport 700 people per hour.” – The city newspaper “Stalineli” would report the next day, also publishing a large photograph capturing this event, with its “cliché-signature,” as press jargon of the time called the text attached to the image.

Yet, how was this project realized, which was meant to connect not only the Park of Culture and Leisure with the city center but also the population of the surrounding streets (around 20,000 residents at that time)?

Brief data: Construction began in 1960 under the Municipal Department of the City Council Executive Committee. The project was designed by the “Hydroshahtproject” company of Georgia, the chief engineer of which was V. Lezhava. Architects from Kutaisi participated, including Shota Noselidze, Givi Todadze, and David Levidze. The Kutaisi Automotive and Electromechanical Plants manufactured the necessary devices, and an assembly team from the Tkvarcheli enterprise “Soyuzprommekhanization” worked on the installation, which cost 180,000 Soviet rubles.

Through such collective efforts and determination, a unique engineering structure was created for Kutaisi at that time, which, over the decades, became one of the city’s landmarks. Since the 1960s, our cable car has been featured in many Georgian films set to famous songs about Kutaisi; it appears in documentaries, TV segments, and magazine reports, and is captured in souvenir photos, stickers, albums, selfies… Adults and children, locals and tourists alike, are eager to rush to the lower platform not only to shorten their journey to the park but also to enjoy the stunning views.

In recent years, as with the city itself, the cable car has changed its appearance. From the air, one can now see entirely different landscapes: the restored and roofed Bagrati Cathedral, the reconstructed city center, multistory buildings, new streets, squares, institutions, new colors, and spaces. Since 1966, the Rustaveli Bridge has been located here, practically below the cable car line. Also, Tsulukidze Square, where once stood a tall monument to the great revolutionary, is now called Veriko Anjaparidze Square, adorned with stone compositions created by foreign artists at Kutaisi’s International Artists’ Symposium, and the youth call this place “the garden of love.”

The cable car has also been modernized. For ordinary passengers or people who daily cross the bridges and streets, this pair of gondolas suspended in the air delight the eye and bring joy, while specialists and responsible officials know well the serious work and constant control that go into ensuring this beauty is also safe. Many people from Kutaisi and visitors from afar spend their days traveling on these charming gondolas, soaring “higher and higher!”

And then, after resting and invigorating in Gabashvili Park, we return the same way, enriched by the impressions gained from witnessing these marvelous views.