Tbilisi Walks: Dedaena and 9 March Parks

On the banks of the Kura River in the center of Tbilisi, two small green parks stretch out, connected by a short tunnel. These are the Dedaena Park and the 9th of March Park. In this video, we will stroll through the alleys of both parks, starting our walk in Dedaena Park located between the Dry Bridge, famous for its flea market, and the Public Service Hall.

Dedaena Park got its name in memory of the mass protests on April 14, 1978, in Tbilisi against the introduction of the Russian language as the official language of the Georgian SSR. The demonstrations, which gathered more than 100,000 people on Rustaveli Avenue, succeeded in preserving the official status of the Georgian language. A symbol of the protest at that time was the textbook "Deda ena" (დედა ენა, "Mother Tongue"), written and published by Iakob Gogebashvili in 1865. Later, a monument to this textbook was erected in Dedaena Park, and in 2013, the book was included in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia.

The second park featured in this video is also named in memory of mass demonstrations that ended tragically. In March 1956, after the speech of the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev at the 20th Congress of the CPSU on the cult of personality and its consequences, rallies were held in Tbilisi for five days with portraits of Stalin and the slogan 'We do not allow criticism of Stalin.' On March 9, troops were introduced into the city. As a result of suppressing the demonstrations, according to official government figures, 15 people were killed and 54 were injured, 7 of whom died in hospitals. According to unofficial data, the number of victims could be from 80 to 150 people.

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