Parliament Speaker: Leuville was a small place preserving memory of independent Georgia; Today independent, free Georgia gives new life to Estate

“This place, distanced by approximately 4 thousand kilometers from Georgia, was part of Georgian political history for one century, part of the history which was not continued in Georgia but on foreign land,” said Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili during the official opening ceremony of the Georgian Estate in Leuville.

The Parliament Speaker noted that Leuville was not only a legacy of big politics but a small place preserving the memory of independent Georgia.

“After the Sovietization of Georgia in 1921, the Georgian Democratic Republic’s government members fled the country, taking with them the hope that they would continue the struggle to regain Georgia’s freedom and independence.

Those who emigrated took with them the political memory of independent Georgia, its constitutional and state traditions, diplomatic ties, and the faith that the occupation of 1921 would not mark the end of the history of Georgia’s independence,” he said.

According to Shalva Papuashvili, most of the Georgian Democratic Republic’s government members could not return to the motherland, but the idea of an independent state, which they cherished for years, has returned.

“A century after the founding of Leuville, independent Georgia has returned here. Today, we see the result of nearly a decade of work, and we are inaugurating the rehabilitated Leuville,” he said.

Large-scale reconstruction works at the Georgian Estate in Leuville have been completed. The Georgian government financed and implemented the works. Leuville, as an estate belonging to the Georgian people, was transferred to Georgian administration in 2016.