The Cemetery of Vera was founded in the 1830s, initially as a burial place for rich and noble people. Many famous Armenian public figures and scientists, who contributed to Tbilisi’s cultural development, were buried in the cemetery. The forgotten tombstones even today strike by their grandeur, still bear witness to the wealth of noble family.

At the initiative of the Department of Youth Affairs at the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, on May 14, 2016, a group of young Armenians, led by the Director of Department, Valery Badalyan, headed to the old Cemetery of Vera to clean up abandoned graves of Armenians, taking with them necessary tools. The group of young activists, consisting of Nina Seropova, Youth Programs Coordinator, Suren Abramyan, Choreographer at the Hayartun Center, operator Gevorg Poghosov, Emil Sarkisyan, July Virabyan, Sergey Kamalov, Boris Mzikyan, David Kharazov et. al., cleaned up the graves and tombs of upper-class representatives, such as: Khudadov, Melik-Azaryants, Girgidov, Enikolopov, Yuzbashev, Ananov, a tobacco manufacturer Namuradyants, an industrialist Bozrjyants, a linguist and Armenologist Shahan Jrpetyan and his spouse, an architect Gabriel Ter-Mikelov. These are the tombs of devoted citizens of Tbilisi, whose relatives live abroad or had been exiled and killed.

The group worked all day long, removed weeds and garbage.

The young people that are united around the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, well aware of their moral duty towards the memory of their ancestors, have organized volunteer Saturday workdays in the Khojivanq Pantheon of the Armenian Greats, in the Vera and Petre-Pavle Cemeteries, because for the future’s sake we must remember the past. According to the Head of Department of Youth Affairs, similar initiatives will continue not only in Tbilisi but in other regions as well.