Statue of love in Batumi why without hands. Sculpture "Ali and Nino": an inspiring and tragic love story

In 2011, in the famous Georgian resort city of Batumi, the sculpture “Love” was installed, dedicated to Ali and Nino, heroes widely famous novel Kurbana Said.

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

Initially, his statue was called “Man and Woman,” but after they finally decided to install it in sunny Georgian Batumi, the monument began to be called “Love,” and unofficially, “Ali and Nino.”

Interesting Facts

• The sculpture is movable, it represents two seven-meter silhouettes of a man and a woman, which either move away from each other, then connect again, making up a single whole due to the unusual structure.
• At night, metal translucent silhouettes are illuminated different colors, which makes the sculpture even more beautiful and fantastic.
• Tamar Kvesitadze worked on her romantic project for more than two years. Initially, the drawings were presented in Venice, then in London; already in 2007, “Love” received many flattering reviews. Even the local residents themselves could not believe for a long time that such a renowned 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 and 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 outline in any case, 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.

On the territory of a seaside hotel in Batumi, Georgia, an original moving statue of love, called “Ali and Nino,” was installed. sculptural work, dedicated to love, has no analogues in the world.

The seven-meter sculptural work consists of two sculptures of a man and a woman. This is exactly what “Man and Woman” was originally called by this sculpture, designed by the Georgian artist and sculptor Tamara Kvesitadze.

Tamara worked on this fundamental sculptural work for almost two years, and in 2007 the sculpture was completely ready and presented to the general public at the Italian Biennale in Venice. The statue was then shown in London. The sculptural work was liked by everyone who saw it in motion. Yes, yes, exactly in motion. After all, two statues slowly move towards each other for 10 minutes, and they seem to “merge” into one whole, and then they slowly diverge and move away from each other. An incredible ten-minute love story of two people - a man and a woman - takes place before the eyes of the audience. First we see their meeting, then an irresistible attraction to each other, a passionate kiss in a fit of flaring love, and then their inevitable separation and distance from each other.

Tamara Kvesitadze received inspiration for the creation of this sculptural work after reading the novel “Ali and Nino”, written in 1937. unknown author, referred to as Kurban Said. The novel describes complicated story the love of an Azerbaijani-Muslim youth Ali and a Georgian-Christian girl Nino, who began their love story in difficult years first world war, revolution, civil war and the formation of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic. The novel describes the love of two hearts, their endless search for truth and reconciliation of conflicting beliefs - Islam and Christianity.

After the installation of the sculptures in Batumi, it was decided to change the original author's name sculptural work"Man and Woman" on "Ali and Nino". So, since 2011, Ali and Nino tirelessly demonstrate to everyone their romantic love worthy of Shakespeare's pen.

The sculptures look especially incredibly touching and charming at night thanks to the multi-colored lighting. As the two sculptures approach each other, the lighting changes and becomes brighter, and eventually the single scarlet-blue color of love flashes. Then, as the statues move away from each other color palette the shades change again, and in the end the cold blue and red color of separation remains.

This is so incredible Touching story one love of Ali and Nino, is presented in the form of two eternally moving sculptures, either towards each other, or, on the contrary, moving away from each other.

The most incredible thing about this story is the origin of the novel itself. After all, no one still knows for sure who the author of this now bestseller, published in 33 languages ​​of the world more than 100 times, is.

It is believed that the author is a certain Kurban Said, whom no one has ever seen. In a publishing house in Vienna in 1935, a manuscript was found left on a table by an unidentified person. On title page The manuscript contained the title “Ali and Nino” and below the signature Kurban Said. In 1937, the manuscript was published in Vienna and was sold out in a matter of days. Then it was translated into many languages ​​of the world: Polish, Dutch, Czech, Swedish, Italian. With the outbreak of World War II, the book was forgotten for some time, and the original manuscript disappeared without a trace. Since the 70s, the publication of this bestseller has resumed, which is now on different languages traveled all over Earth. Based on this imperishable novel, a script was written and a play was staged, which was performed by the Bakinsky troupe Municipal Theater, which subsequently resounding success at festivals in 2012 " Golden Mask"(Russia), "Melpomene Tavria" (Kherson, Ukraine).

The romantic statue of Nino and Ali in the pearl of Georgia, the resort city, has been attracting the attention of tourists for many years now. Everyone who walks along the embankment undoubtedly finds themselves under the influence of her spell.

And if formerly sculpture stood at the very edge, on a concrete platform, then after severe weather 2015, it was moved closer to other structures and entertainment of the Park of Wonders, almost right next to.

Now the moving statue of lovers is available for public viewing at any time of the day. Undoubtedly especially beautiful and it looks unique after sunset, when the multi-colored lights turn on and the figures are either approaching or moving away from each other to the sound of the waves and the twinkling of stars.

Statue of love in Batumi

At the Batumi statue of love, like in the novel, thanks to which the sculpture arose, has its own history. Although less short, it did not have time to become tragic.

The movement of the sculpture does not stop either day or night. But in evening time The backlight turns on, which adds romance to it.

Her amazing work, the result of two years of work, was shown in 2007, first on the famous Venice exhibition world art, and then in London, causing a furor among those present.

Subsequently, they decided to install the statue in Batumi, next to the sea terminal on the embankment. From 2011 to August 2015, it successfully withstood all natural disasters. It was only at the end of August 2015 that the statue was moved to a safer place.

At the same time, there were some “victims”. Transporting the sculpture one of the figures was damaged(according to another version, it was broken during a hurricane and rain). Fortunately, everything was quickly corrected, and the composition, as before, continues to bring joy to connoisseurs of beauty.

The sculpture of Ali and Nino was made under the impression of reading novel of the same name, presumably Kurban Said. The authorship could not be established for certain, despite world fame books published 80 years ago (in 1937). The novel talks about difficult love Muslim guy and Christian girl, about finding compromises between two cultures and future fate lovers.

Initially, the composition was planned to be called “Man and Woman,” but after editing in Batumi, it was decided to change it to “Ali and Nino.”

In about 10 minutes, two figures manage to show the entire love story: from meeting to separation. They gradually get closer, pass through each other and part. The thing is that the images of a man and a woman are made of metal lattice, essentially similar to blinds.

The height of the sculpture is only slightly taller than a human, but due to the rather high platform on which they are mounted, the impression of the scale of the composition is created.

There are benches around the platform where passers-by like to sit in the evenings, admiring the yachts, ships and the setting sun. Nearby, tourists are making dates, tourists are walking and taking pictures in front of the statue, and passers-by are riding bicycles and rollerblading. And the unusual symbol of love, the sculpture of Nino and Ali, continues its graceful movement for eternity...

Sculpture of Nino and Ali in Batumi on the map

The Wonderland Park, in which the statue of love between Nino and Ali is installed in Batumi, is a popular vacation spot among tourists and city residents. Finding it is not difficult, and yet, for convenience, we attach a map with the exact location of the sculpture and other attractions located nearby.

All icons are signed and briefly characterize this place (if you click on them). If necessary, the map can be enlarged by clicking on the rectangle in the upper right corner.

How to get to the monument to Ali and Nino in Batumi?

The most in a simple way To see the moving monument to Ali and Nino on the Batumi embankment is to walk to it. The convenient location of the sculpture allows you to approach the park both by car and by bus. In the first case, you will be able to get quite close to the monument and leave the car in any suitable place(for example, about ). Suitable bus numbers: 1, 1a, 2, 4, 10, 13. To avoid funny cases, we advise you to ask the driver or passengers of the minibus whether you will get to the right place.

Every city in Georgia has its own flavor. A unique, beautiful and unusual highlight. 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 city residents renamed it and gave it another name - Ali and Nino. But few who come to Georgia know who Ali and Nino are and why these huge seven-meter figures are named 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, by fate, separated 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 claim 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 Baku girls’ gymnasium.

The names Ali and Nino are well known in Georgia. It is for this reason that after the installation of the sculpture, local residents 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 know about their existence, unless, of course, local residents tell about it. And there really is something to talk about.

The main character 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 the sword to the ruler of Baku, with which the Russian general Tsitsianishvili was stabbed to death. Ali Khan's parents remain committed throughout the novel Asian culture and everything European in their soul does not find shelter. But Ali Khan himself is brought up in a very ordinary school and there he also experiences the power of the West.

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

Ali constantly helps his young friend with her homework; they often meet in the Governor’s Garden, where they walk along its alleys and kiss for the first time. But the 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 his love for Nino, Ali Khan begins to get used to the Christian faith more and more, to come 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 is strongly opposed to his daughter becoming the wife of a Muslim.

In the summer, the young couple and their parents leave for Shusha, where Ali encounters an aristocrat from Armenia Melik Nahararyan. The guys strike up a friendship, but Melik is attracted to the beautiful Nino at first sight and makes every effort to take the girl with him to Sweden.

But then the First flares up 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 didn’t understand her lover and Nino. However, Ali Khan did not want to go to war for any reason. Russian Empire.

And then Melik suddenly arrives in Baku and organizes the kidnapping of the girl. Nino is not very opposed to this kidnapping. Her ardent love for Ali is already beginning to cool down and the girl really misses adventures. But Ali Khan, in anger, overtakes the fugitives on his horse and, during a fight that breaks out between the young people, kills Nahararyan. After this murder, Ali turns out to be a blood enemy of the Nahararyan family, and in order to save his life he is forced to hide in a Dagestan village. After some time, Nino finds him. Ali Khan forgives his beloved, and they arrange a wedding according to all Muslim traditions. 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 remains to defend his homeland. He never accepted the Russian Empire and Ali dies during a battle with Russian soldiers.

An unusually beautiful statue in Batumi is named after these two people - the courageous and proud Ali Khan and the flighty but faithful Nino. As in life, the seven-meter statues of a girl and a boy first approach each other, then merge into a single whole, and at the very end they part once and for all. But, despite this separation, they will always live in their hearts. eternal love, respect and admiration for each other will always live on.

Well, all we can do is watch this sacred merger and sad parting in the late evenings in Batumi, 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 disperse again. But the best way to contemplate the monument is in dark time days. Then this movement looks like magic dance love and at the same time so much charm emanates from him that it is simply impossible not to succumb to him.

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 their “kiss” at night, against the backdrop 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 discovered about a dozen posts by different LiveJournal users on the same topic, but that didn’t stop me. A very pleasant topic!

On November 16, 2010, the moving sculpture “Love” was opened in Batumi. The seven-meter sculptures cost the city 5 thousand dollars, and are notable 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 this, the reverse process begins, and then everything starts 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 the decision was made 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 was previously presented several times at various exhibitions in Europe and the USA and received high marks.
According to sculptor Tamar Kvesitadze, she is happy that her work has received such recognition. “I am very happy and want to thank everyone who participated in these works. I think that the new sculpture is very suitable for the city of Batumi,” said Kvesitadze. The mayor of Batumi, Robert Chkhaidze, noted in turn that “a sculpture symbolizing love has been installed in Batumi and it will always be one of the city’s attractions.”

A few words about “Ali and Nino”.
This novel was shrouded in secrecy, like probably no other novel of the 20th century. "Ali and Nino" was first published in German in 1937 in Vienna. The manuscript of the novel disappeared without a trace, and scientists different countries They 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: before us is a brilliant and inspiredly told romantic story, the action of which unfolds in the Caucasus and Iran against the backdrop of the dramatic events of the first quarter of the last century. Released in pre-war Germany, the novel "Ali and Nino" has already become a world bestseller today and has received enthusiastic responses from readers.
This is a 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 simply go crazy. Exotic adventures in intricate oriental settings with true love to the grave, blood feud, heroic deeds in the name of the homeland and beloved woman - candy, not a novel. 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: to the modern reader Sometimes you want to take a break from complex texts with hints and tricks, to open a book whose plot would be crystal clear, like spring water, and whose characters would be simple, like road dust. What is important is that these heroes really have values, they have 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 literary works Yusif Vezira considered the idea of ​​ethnic and cultural mixing unacceptable and even a betrayal of the homeland. This contradicts 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 Gesamkatalog of the times of the Third Reich, under the name Kurban Said, it is written “pseudonym Ehrenfels, f. Bodmershoff, Elfried, Baronesses.” 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 magnate, Avram Naussimbaum.

So who is this Kurban Said?

It is known that, among other pseudonyms, the name "Kurban Said" was used 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 religion. At the age of one he was transported to Baku. From 1914 to 1920, Lev Nusenbaum studied at the Russian-language Baku Men's Gymnasium. German language studied from childhood under the guidance of a Baltic German governess (Frau Alice Melanie Schulte). In 1920, without finishing 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-Wilhelms 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 Nusenbaum’s biography with the biographies of his characters, it turns out that he described his life.
Excerpt from the novel “Ali and Nino”:
“... Lyceum students in blue uniform dresses, the color of dreams, and white aprons, walked sedately through the garden. Among them was my cousin Aishe. She walked arm in arm with the most beautiful girl in the world, Nino Kipiani. Seeing me, Aishe waved her hand. I approached them and began to talk about the battle that took place in the geography lesson.
“Ali Khan, you are a fool,” said the most beautiful girl in the world, wrinkling her nose. - 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 completely defeated. Controversial geographical position Baku truly gave me the favor of the most beautiful eyes in the world.
Upset, I decided not to go to the rest of my lessons and went to wander the streets, looking at camels, and then stood for a long time by the sea, sadly thinking about Europe, Asia and beautiful eyes 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 pulled my hand back in fear. And then, full of remorse for the callousness shown, I spent almost two hours looking for the disappeared beggar to allow him to kiss my hand. It seemed to me that I had offended him by refusing him, and remorse did not give me peace. However, I was never able to find a beggar.
Five years have passed since then...”

Did I manage to intrigue you?

If alone romantic story If you think it’s not enough, feel free to read another novel of the writer that is 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 transporting readers to different corners light - Berlin, Istanbul, Bosnia, New York, pays close attention 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 at rapprochement remain futile and lead nowhere, the hearts of each of the heroes remain devoted to their blood traditions, their homeland, their concepts of duty, honor and love. main character- Asiada (Asia) - amazes with its purity, integrity of views, femininity and wisdom.
"The Girl from the Golden Horn" is one of those rare books, which I would like to recommend to friends. No vulgarity or far-fetchedness. All about life...

Enjoy your reading!

My project "Summer in Georgia"