1840-1884
According to the newspaper Droeba, Carla Serena, well known in European traveler visited Georgia twice at the end of 19th century.
Carla Serena’s work, “Caucasian Sketches,” dated 1844, contains significant information as well as drawings of various regions of Georgia, their ethnographic, religious diversity. The book includes landscapes of Akhaltsikhe, Borjomi, Gori; portraits of people and drawings of their daily life.
Writings of Carla Serena about a lost part of bowl of Bedia Cathedral, which she made after her travel to Abkhazia, proved to be a very valuable piece of information for Georgian scientists.
Carla Serena’s travels in various parts of the world are recounted in her works: “Alone in Steppes: Episodes from My Travel to the Country of Kalmyk and Kyrgyz People,” “People and Objects in Persia,” “My Travel from the Baltic Sea to the Caspian Sea.”
“A famous woman traveler, Carla Serena, traveled in our country twice. This active woman, who so bravely traveled through our region and barren places of Persia, has prepared a book extensively describing her travel in the Caucasus with photos, which will be published in Paris. This is what one French newspaper wrote about Carla Serena, a tireless woman traveler, Carla Serena, has recently arrived to Paris from the Caucasus and brought with her numerous photos of the nature and people of Caucasus; these photos will be included in her literary work “Caucasus” which she has already started to publish.
“This woman was received with great honor in Europe: the King of Italy had a large gold medal cast for her. The London Geographic Society asked her to deliver a public lecture about her travels. Her two interesting literary works – “From the Baltic Sea to the Caspian Sea” and “European Woman in Persia” – were translated into Italian.”
The newspaper Droeba, issue #63,
25 March, 1882