r/tbilisi • u/TheRealGuitarNoir • 5d ago

Trying to find the modern location of a 150 year-old photo of a factory in Tibilis (Ortachala area)

The link is for a Google Doc--which should be viewable by all--that contains all the info I have about a Tannery/Leather Goods factory in operation between 1875-1917. It was owned by G.G. Adelhanov (spelled various ways), who lived from 1948-1917. I'm trying to locate the modern location of this historical site.

I have done my best with Google maps, trying to use a rock formation as a reference, and I have a suspected location, but this is my first time doing this sort of thing, and I'm far from confident that I am correct. I've come to this sub because the other subs that I thought would be appropriate (like r/GeoLocation), turned out not to be correct for this sort of thing. If someone knows a better sub, please let me know.

I have included highlighted areas of both the rock formation, and where I think the factory would have been, if it were still in existence.

I've also included the only info I have of the residence of G.G. Adelhanov. I have no idea what the modern location would be, although it was said to have been in the Ortachala area. If someone happens to know if it still exist, that would be very helpful. Thank you in advance.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AUjXb2f2HalDwNdhcmYVij7C0HkthSYIJLCdCrsFFV0/edit?usp=sharing

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u/BreBhonson 5d ago

Interesting. Following.

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u/External_Tangelo 5d ago

I believe that the structure you've highlighted is too far to the south. Between the brow of that small hill the tannery is located on and the larger hill behind it, there is the deep ravine of the Krtsanisistskali river, which this large apartment block is being constructed on top of the far side of the ravine. In the historical photo, the tannery is clearly on the near side of the ravine and even a little downhill towards the smaller, unnamed ravine to the north.

Unfortunately, nearly every historical building in Ortachala was demolished in the last 10-15 years, so I would doubt that either of these structures have survived.

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u/TheRealGuitarNoir 4d ago

Thank you for your reply. Having never been to Tbilisi, anything I say about it should be suspect. While I agree that the area I highlighted is likely a bad guess, I did spend some time surveying the area you mentioned.

It would seem to me that a 19th century factory owner would not want to live very far from his factory, and if G.G. Adelkhanov did live in the Ortachala area, the area where the Ksani river meets the Kura river seems quite a distance to travel. (I apologize if I'm using the incorrect names of these locations--I'm having a little difficulty translating).

In any case, sparked by your response I did more research of the geography of Tbilisi in the late 19th century, and I see that the Kura river has been engineered to be very different now. For example, Madatov Island no longer exist, so my attempt to find the modern location of that 1870's photograph is probably an impossible task.

But thank you for your input.

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u/External_Tangelo 4d ago

Specifically in the case of Ortachala, another island was removed— the Mtkvari used to flow roughly where today’s Gulua/Gulia streets are. That’s the river you would have seen in those photos with the island in the foreground. Construction of the Ortachala dam would have further altered the shape of the riverbank.

In any case I don’t think your guess is too far off— but in my view it should be about 300 meters to the north of the building you highlighted 

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u/TheRealGuitarNoir 3d ago

but in my view it should be about 300 meters to the north of the building you highlighted 

Forgive me, from my ignorance of Tbilisi, I misunderstood the area you were talking about in your earlier post. From my further research I suspect that you are very much correct in what you said in the quote (above).

Thank you for your help.