The remains of the palace from V-IV centuries BC were found on Alazani Valley

An international archaeological expedition of Georgian National Museum has been working on the Alazani Valley, in the village of Jugaani, Signagi Municipality. Archaeological excavations revealed the palace remains about  V-IV centuries BC.

Archaeological division of Georgian National Museum, as result of geophysical exploration, on about 1 hectare, found supposedly torched remains on the Alazani Valley. As a result of archaeological excavations, revealed a complex planning structure - the central six-column hall of the palace. The walls of 1.5 meters thick are built of mud brick. Wooden columns of the hall are based on limestone, bell-shaped bases. There have also revealed square podiums built of mud bricks, where supposedly have to be a throne or an altar.

The bell-shaped bases, as well as the architectural detail accidentally discovered on the same site - presumably the capital's decor - makes it possible to assume that the building is from the Achaemenid era and should date back to V-IV centuries BC. As it is known, the bell-shaped bases were developed at the beginning of the 5th century BC in the centers of the Persian Empire of the Achaemenids - in Souza and Persepolis and the lotus ornament is also typical of Achaemenid art. The dome palace, located from about two kilometers from the newly discovered building, belongs to the same period, 5th century BC. The palace was excavated in 1994-1995 and is on a display at the GNM (Georgian National Museum) Signagi Museum.

The remains of the newly discovered palace are some forty centimeters from the surface of the ground and are heavily damaged by plowing. The cut off decor of the bell-shaped bases seems to be damaged by the fire and remains only at the bottom of some bases.

The head of the Georgian-German International Archaeological Expedition from the German side is Dr. Kai Kanyut (from the University of Munich Ludwig Maximilian) and Iulon Gagoshidze from the Georgian side (scientific consultant of Georgian National Museum). The expedition involved a team of German geophysicists led by Jörg Fassbinder; Students from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and Munich University students were participating in the archaeological works.