Remains from graves found under a garage during repairs on the territory of the Ministry of Culture of Georgia have been transferred to the Pantheon of Khojivank Armenian writers and public figures in Tbilisi, News-Georgia reports.

In the past there was an Armenian church with a cemetery on the spot in Tbilisi, where the Ministry of Culture is located now - in the Old City. During the Soviet era, the church and cemetery were abolished and new buildings were erected in their place.

According to the Ministry of Culture, archaeologists carried out work in the courtyard of the department and found the remains of five people. Two of them were identified thanks to the inscriptions preserved on the tombstones.

"According to the epitaph, one grave belongs to Hovhannes Ter-Poghosyan, a priest of the Armenian temple, and the other to his wife," the Ministry of Culture of Georgia said in a statement.

The Ministry has informed the Armenian community and public figure Vana Bayburt about the discovery of remains.

With the consent of the Ministry, the Armenian community of Georgia and the Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Georgia Archimandrite Kirakos Davtyan, all the discovered remains were transferred to the Armenian Pantheon located in Tbilisi. 

The Khojivank Pantheon is an Armenian memorial cemetery in the Avlabari district of Tbilisi, founded in the 17th century. Since the 19th century it became the burial place for famous Armenian writers, artists, and public figures.