Sergei Parajanov: The Great Director Admired by the World, and Where to Find His Footprints in Tbilisi and Yerevan

Sergei Parajanov was an absolute genius of world cinema, whose unique visual language changed the history of film forever. The greatest titans of the era sincerely admired him and recognized his grandeur: Michelangelo Antonioni was amazed by the "perfection of beauty" in his films, Andrei Tarkovsky engaged in deep professional debates with him, and Federico Fellini cherished his belongings.

Parajanov possessed an astonishing gift - the ability to transform everything he touched into a pure visual image. For travelers who want to connect with the legacy of this incredible director, there are two main points on the world map: Tbilisi and Yerevan.

Tbilisi: The House on Kote Meskhi and the Spirit of the Old Town

Sergei Parajanov was born, raised, and spent the final years of his life in Tbilisi. It was this city, with its bubbling, multicultural flavor, that shaped his carnivalesque perception of the world. The director's legacy here is woven from incredible stories captured in the memoirs of his contemporaries.

The Tbilisi Courtyard on Kote Meskhi

His paternal home is located on Kote Meskhi Street in the Mtatsminda district. It is a classic, incredibly atmospheric old Tbilisi courtyard with creaking wooden stairs and a U-shaped second-floor balcony that hangs over a mighty old walnut tree.

As the director's close friend, scenic designer David Borovsky, recalled:

"There is no house to speak of, he has a bed, a table, a corridor, and, of course, relatives, neighbors, friends...".

Life was always bustling in this house. Wine flowed like water, balconies burst with fruit, and actors from the Rustaveli Theater, led by Robert Sturua, mingled with visiting intellectuals. Parajanov brought Yuri Lyubimov, Vladimir Vysotsky, and Alla Demidova here.

The Master's Paradoxes: "Try to Read Less"

Those lucky enough to visit Kote Meskhi recalled a surprising detail: Parajanov, who believed in pure visual beauty as God, paradoxically urged: "Try to read less". Indeed, guests noted with amazement that it was impossible to find a single book in his home. Yet, his inner creative energy was colossal. He confessed in his writings:

"I have been driven by envy all my life," Parajanov said. "I envied the beautiful and became charming; I envied the smart and became unpredictable. I envied the talented and became a genius."

Tired of the censorship bans from the USSR State Committee for Cinematography, right in this courtyard on Kote Meskhi, he announced to Yuri Lyubimov: "I won't be shooting anything, they say, but instead I will be making hats, curtains, carpets, and dolls...". His friends understood that Parajanov simply could not exist outside of creation: he was a man who came “not from life, but from art”.

Yerevan: The Sergei Parajanov Museum and Prison Artifacts

While in Tbilisi you need to catch the elusive spirit of the director's life, in Yerevan you will find the material embodiment of his wild genius - the famous Sergei Parajanov Museum.

The museum houses unique exhibits that clearly prove Parajanov could not be broken by prison. The director spent four years in prison on a fabricated charge of "buggery," but even there he never stopped creating.

Legendary Exhibits You Will See in the Museum:

• The "Bouquet" of Barbed Wire and Socks: For International Women's Day (March 8), Parajanov sent a gift from the prison camp to his muse and close friend Lilya Brik, who was nearly 80 at the time. He crafted a bouquet out of barbed wire and his own socks. Brik, appreciating the power of this avant-garde gesture, unhesitatingly placed it in a crystal vase once gifted to her by Vladimir Mayakovsky (though, as people recalled, the bouquet's aroma was far from floral).

• "Parajanov's Thalers": In prison, the director collected milk bottle caps and used an ordinary nail to engrave the profiles of Pushkin, Gogol, and Peter the Great onto the foil. The prison authorities grew frightened and sent the crafts for a psychiatric evaluation, but the doctors returned a brief verdict: "Simply talented".

• Fellini's Silver Medal: One of these handmade milk thalers made its way to Federico Fellini. The great Italian was so stunned that he cast a real silver medal from the prison medallion, which he later used to award winners at the Rimini Film Festival.

The Story of Rescue: International "Heavy Artillery"

At the museum, you will also feel the immense scale of the director's personality through the story of his release. From the camp Parajanov wrote desperate letters to Lilya Brik: "Do something! Don't get tired! Every day do at least something!". And Brik rallied the entire world.

Petitions for his freedom were signed by Truffaut, Godard, Fellini, Visconti, Rossellini, Antonioni, and Tarkovsky. Actor Yuri Nikulin personally, risking his reputation, went to the head of the prison camp system to demand that Parajanov's plight be eased. The final blow was struck by French writer Louis Aragon: he flew to Moscow and personally appealed to Leonid Brezhnev to release the genius, after which Parajanov was finally set free.

With Marcello Mastroianni. https://parajanov.com/mastroianni/

Traveler's Notes

• In Tbilisi: Take a stroll through the atmospheric streets of Mtatsminda to Kote Meskhi Street. Be sure to find the monument to Parajanov in the Old Town (on Bambis Rigi street, 8). It captures him mid-air, frozen in his famous jump based on Yuri Mechitov's photograph.

• In Yerevan: The Sergei Parajanov Museum is located in the colorful Dzoragyugh Ethnographic Quarter (1 Parajanov St.). Set aside at least two hours to examine every prison thaler, collage, and sketch for his final, prophetic film, The Confession.