Batumi figures of a man and a woman. Sculpture "Ali and Nino": an inspiring and tragic love story

Each city of Georgia has its own zest. The highlight is unique, beautiful and unusual. Batumi was no exception. Here, at the very entrance to the city, there is a very original statue, which was installed in 2011. From the very first day of its existence, the statue received a simple name - "Man and Woman". But soon the inhabitants of the city renamed and gave it another name - Ali and Nino. But few who come to Georgia know who Ali and Nino are and for what reason these huge seven-meter figures are called by these names.

And few people realize that Ali and Nino are two people who, by the will of fate, were first united into one whole, and then, again, separated by fate forever ...

And this tragic and bright love story is described in the book of the same name, the authorship of which is attributed to Kurban Said. However, there are two other authors who could also write this wonderful book. One of them is Lev Nussimbaum, a German who converted to Islam. He, like the hero of the novel, studied at the Baku gymnasium. Some even argue that Kurban Said is just a pseudonym for Lev Nussimbautu. The second possible author of the text is Yusif Chemenzeminli, an Azerbaijani writer. His daughters, like Nino, studied at the women's gymnasium in Baku.

The names of Ali and Nino are well known in Georgia. It is for this reason that after the installation of the sculpture locals renamed these figures and gave them real names. And those buildings in Baku that are described in the book have survived in the city to this day. But they are not included in any guidebook, and none of the tourists simply knows about their existence, unless, of course, the locals tell about it. And there really is something to talk about.

The protagonist of the work is Ali Khan Shirvanshir. He is a descendant of an ancient and noble aristocratic family Shirvanshirov. Once upon a time - long ago, the ancestor of Ali Khan named Ibrahim Khan with his with my own hands handed over to the ruler of Baku the sword with which the Russian general Tsitsianishvili was stabbed. Ali Khan's parents throughout the novel remain adherents of Asian culture and everything European in their souls does not find shelter. But Ali Khan himself is brought up in the most regular school and even there he experiences the power of the West.

At the same time, the daughter of the Prince of Georgia, Nino Kipiani, was studying at the girls' gymnasium. And one day Ali met a girl not far from the place where the gymnasium itself is located. Friendship is first established between young people, and then a real first love flares up.

Ali constantly helps his young friend with her lessons, they often meet in the Governor's Garden, where they walk along its alleys and kiss for the first time. But the whole trouble was that Ali Khan was a Muslim, and Nino was a Christian. And the clash of these two religions is very vividly described in the novel itself.

But through love for Nino Ali, Khan is getting more and more accustomed to the Christian faith, getting closer and closer to the European world and its traditions. After the young people graduate, Ali proposes to Nino. But at first the girl refuses, and only when Ali promises her that he will not require her to wear a veil and will not marry anyone else, Nino agrees. Ali Khan's father is not at all against this state of affairs and approves of the wedding, but Nino's father strongly opposes the fact that his daughter becomes the wife of a Muslim.

In the summer, the young with their parents leave for Shusha, where Ali runs into an aristocrat from Armenia, Melik Nakhararyan. The guys start a friendship, but at first sight Melik is fond of the beautiful Nino and does his best to take the girl with him to Sweden.

But here comes the first World War. All Muslims were exempted from military service and participation in hostilities, but they still went to war. But Ali Khan did not go. And this greatly angered his father. She did not understand her lover and Nino. However, Ali Khan did not want to go to war for any Russian empire.

And then Melik suddenly arrives in Baku, who organizes the kidnapping of the girl. Nino does not strongly resist this kidnapping. Her ardent love for Ali is already beginning to cool down and the girl really lacks adventure. But Ali Khan, in anger, overtakes the fugitives on his horse, and during the fight that ensues between the young people, he kills Nakhararyan. After this murder, Ali turns out to be a blood enemy of the Nakhararian family, and in order to save his life he is forced to hide in a Dagestan village. After a while, Nino finds him. Ali Khan forgives his beloved, and they arrange a wedding according to all the traditions of Islam. During this marriage, the girl Tamara is born.

At the end of the book, Russian soldiers capture Baku. Ali Khan sends his beloved to Tbilisi, while he himself remains to defend his homeland. He never accepted the Russian Empire and during the battle with Russian soldiers, Ali dies.

The names of these two people - the courageous and proud Ali Khan and the windy, but faithful Nino - are the names of an unusually beautiful statue in Batumi. As in life, the seven-meter statues of a girl and a young man first approach each other, then merge into a single whole, well, and at the very end they part once and for all. But despite this parting in their hearts will always live eternal love, will always live respect and admiration for each other.

Well, it remains for us only in the late evenings in Batumi to observe this sacred merging and sad parting, which will exist as long as the world exists.

The statues themselves are made of steel. Every 10 minutes they begin to move towards each other, and then merge into a single sculpture, and then diverge again. But it is best to contemplate the monument in the dark. Then this movement looks like a magical dance of love and at the same time so much charm emanates from it that it is simply impossible not to succumb to it.

In 2011, in the famous Georgian resort town of Batumi, the sculpture "Love" was installed, dedicated to Ali and Nino, the heroes of the widely famous novel Kurban Said.

The action taking place in the novel can overshadow even Shakespeare's legendary classic Romeo and Juliet. The Azerbaijani youth Ali fell in love with the beautiful Nino, originally from Georgia, their love was a forbidden fruit, but the young people did everything to stay together, despite the war, despite the time. This sad, romantic story inspired a Georgian sculptor with an American passport named Tamar Kvesitadze so much that she designed one of the most original love monuments in the world.

Initially, his statue was called "Man and Woman", but after it was finally decided to install it in sunny Georgian Batumi, the monument became known as "Love", and unofficially - "Ali and Nino".

Interesting Facts

• The sculpture is mobile, it represents two seven-meter silhouettes of a man and a woman, which either move away from each other, then reconnect, and at the same time making up a single whole due to an unusual structure.
• At night, metal translucent silhouettes are illuminated different colors which makes the sculpture even more beautiful and fantastic.
• Tamar Kvesitadze has been working on her romantic project for more than two years. Initially, the drawings were presented in Venice, then in London, already in 2007, "Love" received a lot of flattering reviews. Even the locals themselves could not believe for a long time that such a famous project would be implemented in Batumi.
• Although the sculpture looks very spectacular and large-scale, Georgia spent only $5,000 on the monument.
• On this moment the statue is considered one of the main attractions of the city, which every year becomes more modern, comfortable and, due to this, a popular tourist destination.

How to get there

The giant statue is located at the entrance to Batumi, so you will see its outlines anyway, once you get to this carefree seaside town.

If you want to combine business with pleasure, you can take a ferry from Sochi. The journey will take about 4 hours, a ticket for one person can cost from 1,500 to 3,500 rubles.

This summer, when I found myself in the port of Batumi, I saw the monument "Ali and Nino" - two metal structures moving towards each other. These “lovers” looked especially beautiful at the moment of the “kiss” at night, against the background of the endless sea surface, illuminated by multi-colored lights ...
I wanted to share with you what I learned about the monument and its author.
Having already started working on this post, I found about a dozen entries by different LiveJournal users on the same topic, but this did not stop me either. It's a very nice topic!

On November 16, 2010, the moving sculpture "Love" was opened in Batumi. The seven-meter sculptures cost the city $5,000 and are remarkable not only for their history and size. Ali and Nino slowly move towards each other, changing position every 10 minutes, until they meet and merge into one. After that, the reverse process begins, and then all over again. The author of the work is the famous Georgian sculptor Tamar Kvesitadze, who works and lives in the USA.

Author of the monument

At the very beginning, the sculpture was called "Man and Woman". But after it was decided to install it in Batumi, the figures received the names of the heroes of Kurban Said's book "Ali and Nino", which tells about the love of an Azerbaijani and a Georgian princess - Ali and Nino.
The model of the monument has already been presented several times at various exhibitions in Europe and the USA and received high marks.
According to the sculptor Tamar Kvesitadze, she is happy that her work has received such recognition. "I am very happy and I want to thank everyone who participated in these works. I think that the new sculpture is very suitable for the city of Batumi," Kvesitadze said. Batumi Mayor Robert Chkhaidze noted in his turn that "a sculpture symbolizing love has been installed in Batumi and it will always be one of the sights of the city."

A few words about "Ali and Nino".
This novel was shrouded in a veil of secrecy, like probably no other novel of the twentieth century. Ali and Nino was first published in German in 1937 in Vienna. The manuscript of the novel disappeared without a trace, and scholars different countries people are still scratching their heads over the question of who is hiding under the mysterious pseudonym "Kurban Said". However, no matter who the author of the novel is, one thing is clear: we have before us a brilliant and inspiredly told romantic story, the action of which takes place in the Caucasus and Iran against the backdrop of dramatic events the first quarter of the last century. Published in pre-war Germany, the novel "Ali and Nino" has already become a world bestseller today and received enthusiastic responses from readers.
It's purebred romantic novel- not from the word "romance", but from the word "romanticism". If it had been written a century earlier, the reading public would have simply gone crazy. Exotic adventures in intricate oriental scenery with true love to the grave, blood feud, heroic deeds in the name of the motherland and the beloved woman - sweetie, not a romance. Why it became popular half a century after it was written (and it was written in the 20s, and the identity of the author is dark and incomprehensible) is quite understandable: modern reader sometimes you want to take a break from complex texts with hints and tricks, open a book, the plot of which would be crystal clear, like spring water, and the characters are simple, like road dust. What is important - these heroes really have values, there is honor and faith, their feelings are sincere, and they always say exactly what they mean. And you gradually gain respect for this simplicity and naivety - "heroes, not us ..."

In Azerbaijan, it is believed that the famous Azerbaijani writer Yusif Vezir Chemenzeminli was the author of "Ali and Nino". However, it should be noted that in the literary works of Yusif Vezir, the idea of ​​ethnic and cultural mixing was considered unacceptable and even a betrayal of the motherland. This is contrary to the fundamental line of the novel "Ali and Nino". According to another version, "Ali and Nino" was written by Baroness Elfried Ehrenfels von Bodmershof, wife of Baron Omar-Rolf von Ehrenfels. In the German book catalog Deutser Gezamtkatalog of the times of the Third Reich, under the name Kurban Said, "pseudonym Ehrenfels, f. Bodmershof, Elfrid, Baronesses" is written. According to the third version, the author of the novel was the writer Lev Naussimbaum, also known as Essad Bey, the son of the Baku oil tycoon, Avram Naussimbaum.

So who is this Kurban Said?

It is known that among other pseudonyms, the name "Kurban Said" was used by German writer, journalist and hoaxer Azerbaijani origin Lev Nusenbaum.

Lev Abramovich Nusenbaum was born in 1905 in Kyiv in the family of a merchant of the second guild and soon an oil magnate from Tiflis, Abram Lvovich Nusenbaum of the Jewish faith. At the age of one, he was transported to Baku. From 1914 to 1920, Lev Nusenbaum studied at the Russian-speaking Baku Men's Gymnasium. German language studied from childhood under the guidance of a governess from the Baltic Germans (Frau Alice Melanie Schulte). In 1920, without graduating from high school, he moved to Georgia, then to Turkey and France, and from there in 1921 to Berlin.
In Berlin, he graduated from the Seminary of Oriental Languages ​​at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, specializing in Turkish and Arabic. In 1926, he converted to Islam at the Turkish embassy in Berlin, and later took the name of Muhammad Assad Bey. If we compare the biography of Nusenbaum with the biographies of his characters, it turns out that he described his life.
An excerpt from the novel "Ali and Nino":
“...Lyceum students in blue, dream-colored uniform dresses and white aprons walked sedately through the garden. Among them was mine cousin Aisha. She walked arm in arm with the most beautiful girl in the world, Nino Kipiani. Seeing me, Ayse waved her hand, I went up to them and began to talk about the battle that took place in the geography lesson.
- Ali Khan, you are a fool, - said, wrinkling her nose, the most beautiful girl in the world. Thank God we are in Europe. If we were in Asia, I should have put on a veil long ago, and you would never have seen my face.
I was shattered. controversial geographical position Baku really gave me the favor of the most beautiful eyes in the world.
Frustrated, I decided not to go to the rest of the lessons and went to wander the streets, looking at the camels, and then stood by the sea for a long time, sadly thinking about Europe, Asia and the beautiful eyes of Nino Kipiani.
Suddenly, a creepy-looking beggar appeared in front of me. I tossed him a coin. He immediately grabbed my hand, intending to kiss it. I jerked my hand back in fear. And then, full of remorse for his callousness, I searched for the missing beggar for two hours to let him kiss my hand. It seemed to me that I had offended him by my refusal, and remorse of conscience haunted me. However, I haven't been able to find one.
Five years have passed since then….

Did I intrigue you?

If one romantic story it will not seem enough for you, feel free to read another novel of the writer, no less beloved by me - “The Girl from the Golden Horn”. In "The Girl from the Golden Horn", the author, following his style of writing and transferring readers to different corners light - Berlin, Istanbul, Bosnia, New York, pays close attention to the inner experiences and reflections of the characters. Kurban Said's favorite theme is the confrontation between East and West, their sincere desire and attempts to get closer remain vain, lead to nothing, the hearts of each of the heroes remain devoted to their blood traditions, their homeland, their concepts of duty, honor and love. main character- Asiade (Asia) - strikes with its purity, integrity of views, femininity and wisdom.
"The Girl from the Golden Horn" is one of those rare books that I want to recommend to friends. No vulgarity or pretentiousness. All about life...

Wishing you happy reading!

My project "Summer in Georgia"

In the seaside city of Batumi, there is a huge statue that testifies to true love. Every resident of Georgia and all guests of the city know the history of the sculpture "Ali and Nino". For the sake of the spectacle of the personified history, thousands of tourists come to Batumi to at least once look at the incredible and amazing sculpture.

Love story

In 1937, a novel was published that won the hearts of millions. A tragic story can cause admiration or joy, tears and disappointment. This is a novel about hearts in love who have gone through to be together. In him main characters Ali and Nino. For religious reasons, the couple could not be together, because the guy was a Muslim, and the girl was a Christian. The life of young people is described in colors: they had to go through both the revolution and civil war, become witnesses of the formation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The novel describes in detail the beauty, nature and life of Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Persia and Tiflis. Despite the fact that most of the events took place in Baku, famous sculpture"Ali and Nino" was erected in Batumi (Georgia).

Statue Features

This is very unusual sculpture because it is in constant motion. For this reason, many call such a miracle an installation. The creator and author of the symbol of the southern republic is Tamara Kvesitadze. the main task architect - to recreate all those experiences and difficulties experienced by young people in a famous story.

The sculpture of love "Ali and Nino" reaches eight meters in height, consists of two separate figures. You will immediately understand what each statue represents. If you look closely, you can see how the integrity of the figures is broken and there are gaps. But this is no accident, because this innovative solution is the essence of the installation.

If you manage to visit Batumi, be sure to visit the famous sculpture "Ali and Nino". Please note that for a beautiful spectacle, the city authorities set the installation in motion at 19:00 every evening. Passing by, stop and just remember the tragic story of a man and a woman who fought to the last for their happiness.

Why is this installation so amazing?

The sculpture "Ali and Nino" in Batumi is a continuous movement of huge buildings. To get to know the whole essence of the installation, you need to spend 10 minutes of your life and enjoy a wonderful sight. You will see how the two statues slowly approach each other, gradually connecting into a single whole, and then diverge into different sides.

Tamara Kvesitadze was able to convey all the tragedy, because Ali and Nino always met furtively for the sake of love, but eternal difficulties scattered them in different directions. Surprisingly, the difficult but inspiring story ended well, and the young people were able to get married.

View from the outside

In the video, the installation seems so large that it almost reaches the roof of a multi-storey building. In fact, the height of the sculpture "Ali and Nino" does not exceed ten meters (together with the stand). According to the reviews of tourists, we can say that even small size The installation is delightful and surprising. The moral here is simple: lovers need to make a long journey to stealthily fall into the arms of a half. It's about halves and in question, because two figures pass through each other, literally merging into a single whole.

The opinion of tourists:

• This installation is so magnificent that it makes you want to get to know the famous novel better.
• The figures move very slowly and pass through each other for 10-15 minutes, while they make a circle.
• The sculpture is mesmerizing, it is impossible to take your eyes off it. All the time that you spend near the pedestal, you begin to remember your love story. At such moments, you can catch a shiver in the body.
• It is recommended to watch the creation of a person in the evening or at night, as a beautiful backlight turns on.

Look at the photo and see for yourself: Tamara Kvesitadze has recreated a wonderful installation that will amaze for years to come.

How to get there

You need to get to the embankment of the square along Rustaveli Avenue and turn onto Gogebashvili Street. After the roundabout, you will see a huge square from which you can see the Batumi lighthouse, the majestic KEMPINSKI hotel and the Ferris wheel. When you get to the embankment, then use our landmarks. You will find the famous installation just 100 meters from the Ferris wheel.

Tip: before 2010 famous statue was called "Lovers", and on the map it is designated as a metal sculpture "LOVE". However, more recently it has been dubbed as the famous sculpture "Ali and Nino". The description above will help you easily find your way to an unforgettable installation.

We are sure that the work of art will inspire you. But do not be disappointed if the figures seem small to you. Just wait until dark and enjoy the pleasant spectacle in seaside Batumi.