The Ateshgah of Tbilisi: The contemporary community contexts of an ancient Zoroastrian fire temple

This diagnostic study presents and discusses the findings of a series of interviews conducted at the Ateshgah of Tbilisi in August 2022 with members of the local community who live within its immediate vicinity. 45 individuals were interviewed in addition to three religious leaders, one from each of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Armenian Orthodox Church and the Islamic faith. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis, this research shows the dynamic range of ways in which local people engage with the Ateshgah and its social value to divergent demographic groups within Old Tbilisi. This analysis foregrounds localised perceptions of cultural heritage and offers an insight into the heterogenous and often conflicting nature of social value. It also addresses the more specific need within Zoroastrian studies for research that grants primacy to material culture and probes the contemporary social resonance of extant ancient Zoroastrian architecture. Lastly, this article offers the first readily available and comprehensive English language resource on the Ateshgah.