As you drive up to Kus Tba (Turtle Lake) in Tbilisi, you’ll inevitably spot the big wooden gates on your right. Behind the gates, you’ll find a fabulous replica village, frozen in time and made up of traditional buildings from the various regions of Georgia.

The open-air Ethnographic Museum of Georgia presents houses and household items from various historical regions and provinces: Kartli, Samegrelo, Adjara, Abkhazia, Svaneti, Khevsureti, Kakheti, Meskheti, Javakheti, Guria, Imereti, Racha, Lechkhumi and Samachablo (South Ossetia). More than 8000 traditional elements of the interior and exterior make up the exhibition.

You can explore the houses by yourself or ask the museum keepers for help. From time to time, specific houses conduct the master classes or showcase regional handcrafts or cuisines, but in order to be updated, you need to subscribeto the website of the National Museum of Georgia.

Annually, in July, the Ethnographic Museum hosts the folklore festival Art Gene, where Georgians from all the regions show off their dances and songs, sell handmade accessories and souvenirs, organize master classes for kids, and offer regional dishes and wines.