National Youth Palace

Tbilisi, Georgia

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

Find out more

OfficialOfficial website↗

Located on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, the National Youth and Children's Palace is a historic building originally constructed in 1802 as the residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasus under Imperial Russian rule. Rebuilt in 1818 by architect Braunmiller, the palace received its classical character through an 1847 reconstruction by Nikolai Semyonov, who added a garden to its grounds. A second major renovation in 1869 by German architect Otto Jakob Simonson enlarged the structure and imparted its distinctive Renaissance aesthetic. Beyond its architectural significance, the palace served as a crucial site of Georgian national history: on May 26, 1918, the National Council convened there to declare Georgia's independence, with the palace subsequently housing the governments of the Democratic Republic of Georgia and its constitutional assembly. Following Soviet incorporation, it was converted in 1937 into a Pioneers Palace, functioning as a nonformal educational institution for children—a purpose it has retained in contemporary Georgia.