Tours > One day tours > Old Tbilisi walking tour

From 22 €

Region: Old Tbilisi

Starting point: Hotel – if it is located in the old city, or Metekhi church.

Tour starts at Metekhi plateau, from where is perfect panoramic view to the old city – Narikala fortress, Bath district, Meidan, Kala district, Betlemi district – so tourists can have a look to the all old city, which will explore next few hours. Here is located also statue of king Vakhang Gorgasali – founder of Tbilisi, and tourists will learn about history of the city.

Next point is Bath district – where is naturally hot sulfur water. These springs and bathes in typical oriental style, played important role in history of the city.

Mosque and fortress Narikala. Fortress basement belongs to IV century, near bath district also were found remains of settlement of IV century. Fortress is built on the hill, so from there is perfect view to the old city.

Meidan – the heart of the old city. Central square which used to be trade center of the city and now is surrounded by nice cafes.

Trade and craft district of the city – in Tbilisi were 18 Karavan-sarays – kind of hotel for traveler traders. Here they were living and on the first floor selling their goods. Such Karavan-Sarais – in Georgian Karvasla – were spread in whole middle east and are ancestors of modern trade malls. Tourists will see couple of them.

Synagogue – as Tbilisi used to be cultural and administrative center not only for Georgia, but for whole Transcaucasia region, it became very multinational, multireligius and multicultural city. Here in the one district are located mosque, synagogue, Georgian churches, Armenian church, and Catholic church and historically till now days people of different nationalities and religion leaved peacefully beside each other.

Sioni cathedral church – built in XI century used to be main cathedral church of Tbilisi. Here is saved one of the most important sacred object of Georgian Orthodox Church – cross of st. Nino – convertor of Georgians.

Betlemi and Gomi street – belongs to historical Bethlemi district. Here are many old houses, with typical for Tbilisi balcony’s. Also on this street are ruins of old Zoroastrian temple.

Betlemi church, originally built by Vakhtang Gorgasali. Panoramic view on the city, from the top of the district.

Because of difficult relief, city has many beautiful view points, so tourists will have chance to make many photos with whole city views. Also because of such relief, many streets in the old city are just stairs – such is Bethlemi stairs, where tourists will walk to reach city center.

Freedom square – now days is the city center, but centuries ago it was the edge of the city. Here is located National Museum’s treasury, which tourists will visit.

Baratashvili avenue – one of the most nice avenues of the city, in old times it also was city edge and now here are remains of the old city walls.

Tower clock – modern bizarre tower built by head of puppet theater – Rezo Gabriadze became favorite attraction for local people and tourists.

Anchiskhati church - the oldest building of the city, dated back to VI century.

New bridge of Peace – modern walking bridge only for walking in the heart of the old city. Good place to make good photos.

Here walking tour in old Tbilisi ends. Tourists will learn history of the city and which interesting places they can visit during free time.

Duration 4-5 hours.

Number of persons	1	2	4	5	6
Price in Euro	42 €	28 €	22 €	20 €	20 €

* Prices might change.

See also: Tbilisi car tour.

Musical instruments museum was founded in 1975 year. Museum has reach collection of Georgian folklore instruments, also mechanical musical instruments. Beside here visitor can learn about Georgian folklore and modern music.

Museum is located in old Tbilisi, address Samgebro st. 6

Price per person 1 lari, guide service 5 lari.

Tbilisi – the city of light and hospitality. Cradle of wine – Kakheti. Georgian “Sufra”, shashliks ans best wines, ancient wine making traditions, Georgian Grappa, and towns of the Silk road! The heart of ancient Georgia, churches and monasteries, magnificent views and Georgian “Siberia” on Javakheti plateau. All this you will get in out tour!

Explore hidden treasures of Georgia!
Read the rest of this entry »

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt’k'vari (Kura) River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T’pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936. The city covers an area of 726 km2 (280 sq mi) and has 1,480,000 inhabitants.

Founded in the 5th century by Vakhtang Gorgasali, the Georgian King of Iberia, and made into a capital in the 6th century, Tbilisi is a significant industrial, social, and cultural centre. The city is also emerging as an important transit route for global energy and trade projects. Located strategically at the crossroads between Europe and Asia and lying along the historic Silk Road routes, Tbilisi has often been a point of contention between various rival powers and empires. The history of the city can be seen by its architecture, where the Haussmannized Rustaveli Avenue and downtown are blended with the narrower streets of the medieval Narikala district.

The demographics of the city are diverse and historically it has been home to peoples from diverse cultures, religions and ethnicities. Despite being overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian, Tbilisi is one of the few places in the world (Sarajevo and Paramaribo being others) where a synagogue and a mosque are located next to each other, in the ancient Bath district several hundred metres from the Metekhi Church.

History of Tbilisi

According to an old legend, the present-day territory of Tbilisi was covered by forests as late as 458. One widely accepted variant of the legend of Tbilisi’s founding states that King Vakhtang I Gorgasali of Georgia went hunting in the heavily wooded region with a falcon (sometimes the falcon is replaced with either a hawk or other small birds of prey in the legend). The King’s falcon allegedly caught or injured a pheasant during the hunt, after which both birds fell into a nearby hot spring and died from burns. King Vakhtang became so impressed with the hot springs that he decided to cut down the forest and build a city on the location. The name ‘Tbili’ or ‘Tbilisi’ (‘warm location’) was therefore given to the city because of the area’s numerous sulphuric hot springs that came out of the ground.

Archaeological studies of the region have revealed that the territory of Tbilisi was settled by humans as early as the 4th millennium BCE. The earliest actual (recorded) accounts of settlement of the location come from the second half of the 4th century CE, when a fortress was built during King Varaz-Bakur’s reign. Towards the end of the 4th century the fortress fell into the hands of the Persians after which the location fell back into the hands of the Kings of Kartli (Georgia) by the middle of the 5th century. King Vakhtang I Gorgasali (reigned in the middle and latter part of the 5th century), who is largely credited for founding Tbilisi, was actually responsible for reviving and building up the city and not founding it. The present-day location of the area which Gorgasali seems to have built up is spread out around the Metekhi cliff and the latter-day Abanotubani neighbourhood.

King Dachi I Ujarmeli, who was the successor of Vakhtang I Gorgasali, moved the capital from Mtskheta to Tbilisi according to the will left by his father. Beginning from the 6th century, Tbilisi started to grow at a steady pace due to the region’s favourable and strategic location which placed the city along important trade and travel routes between Europe and Asia.

Since the end of VI century Tbilisi often was under foreign control.First Persians took over Tbilisi and ruled it for about a decade. Later Arabs established an emirate centered in Tbilisi. The Arab domination brought a certain order to the region and introduced a more formal/modernized judicial system into Georgia.

In 1122, after heavy fighting with the Seljuks that involved at least 60,000 Georgians and up to 300,000 Turks, the troops of the King of Georgia David the Builder entered Tbilisi. After the battles for Tbilisi concluded, David moved his residence from Kutaisi (Western Georgia) to Tbilisi, making it the capital of a unified Georgian State. From 12-13th centuries, Tbilisi became a dominant regional power with a thriving economy (with well-developed trade and skilled labour) and a well-established social system/structure. By the end of the 12th century, the population of Tbilisi had reached 100,000. The city also became an important literary and a cultural center not only for Georgia but for the larger civilized world as well.

From the late 14th until the end of the 18th century, Tbilisi came under the rule of various foreign invaders once again and on several occasions was completely burnt to the ground. King Erekle II of Georgia tried on several occasions, successfully, to free Tbilisi from Persian rule but in the end Tbilisi was burnt to the ground in 1795 by Shah Agha-Mohammad Khan.

In 1801, after the Georgian kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti was occupied the Russian Empire, Tbilisi became the center of the Tbilisi Governorate (Gubernia). From the beginning of the 19th century Tbilisi started to grow economically and politically. New buildings mainly of European style were erected throughout the town. New roads and railroads were built to connect Tbilisi to other important cities in Russia and other parts of the Transcaucasus (locally) such as Batumi, Poti, Baku, and Yerevan. By the 1850s Tbilisi once again emerged as a major trade and a cultural center.

Throughout the century, the political, economic and cultural role of Tbilisi with its ethnic, confessional and cultural diversity was significant not only for Georgia but for the whole Caucasus. Hence, Tbilisi took on a different look. It acquired different architectural monuments and the attributes of an international city, as well as its own urban folklore and language, and the specific Tbilisuri (literally, belonging to Tbilisi) culture.

After collapse of Russian Empire in 1917 Georgia gained independence. Under the national government, Tbilisi turned into the first Caucasian University City after the Tbilisi State University was founded in 1918. On 25 February 1921, the Bolshevist Russian 11th Red Army invaded Tbilisi after bitter fighting at the outskirts of the city and declared Soviet rule.

Places to visit in Tbilisi

Churches in Tbilisi

• Trinity cathedral
• Metekhi church
• Anchiskhati church
• Sioni church
• Mama Daviti church
• Catholic churches in Tbilisi
• Tbilisi sinagogue
• Armenian churches in Tbilisi
• Tbilisi mosque

Museums

• National treasury
• Georgian National Museum
• Doll museum in Tbilisi
• Money museum
• Ethnographic open air museum
• Museum of national musical instruments

Parks

• Tbilisi botanical garden
• New park in Tbilisi
• Mtatsminda park

Historical places

• Historical district Bethlemi
• Bath district
• Narikala fortress
• Shardeni street
• Caravan Sarai in Tbilisi
• Baratashvili avenue
• Rustaveli avenue
• Freedom square
• Marjanishvili street and David the builder’s avenue

Clubs and restaurants

Theaters

• Rustaveli theater
• Marjanishvili theater
• Tbilisi concert hall
• “Nabadi” folklore theater
• Tbilisi Opera
• Marionette theatre

Wine and souvenir shops

• Flee market
• Vinoteka

Other attractions

Transport

Tbilisi international Airport

There is one airport in Tbilisi, where all international and domestic flights are taking place. Airport is located in the east part of the city. Airport’s website – www.airport.ge. From airport to the city one can get by bus, train, taxi or order transfer.

Railway

In Tbilisi there are 3 railway stations: Central station, Didube station and Navtlukhi station. From the central station leaves all local trains, most important of which is Tbilisi – Batumi train and international trains – to Yerevan and Baku. Check out Georgian Railways website – www.railway.ge.

Bus stations

In Tbilisi there are several bus stations: At central railway station, Didube station, from where leaves buses and minibuses to the north and west Georgia and region Samtskhe-Javakheti, at Isani and Samgori subway stations can be found minibuses to Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli region and Ortachala bus station, where are buses to Yerevan and Kakheti. Price of ticket depends on distance.

City transport

buses and minibuses

Most popular public transport is buses and minibuses. Bus ticket costs 50 tetri and minibus – 80 tetri.

subway

Tbilisi subway has 2 lines. To use subway person needs to buy special card – metromoney, which also can be used in buses and minibuses. One ticket costs 50 tetri. Metromoney card costs 2 lari.

Hotels in Tbilisi

List of Tbilisi hotels

List of Tbilisi hostels

See also

• Tour in Tbilisi
• Walking tour in Tbilisi

Tbilisi Metekhi temple is located in one of the old neighborhoods of the city – Avlabari. According to the legend the temple was built in the reign of King Vakhtang Gorgasali in the end of V c. AD. The legend claims as well st. martyr Shushanik, spouse of Varsken Pitiakhshi of Kartli to be buried here. Her life is narrated by monk Jacob in his “Martyrdom of st. Shushanik” the earliest of Georgian original composition dated back by V c. but neither the fact of construction of the church, nor of the interment of st. Shushanik is confirmed by any other more or less reliable sources.

However, it is doubtless that the current church is not the initial. For instance, in times of Qween Tamar, in the end of XII c. a church stood there together with the fortress and the royal palace located nearby. The Head of Tbilisi garrison ordered to burn the palace and the church in 1235, during the invasion of Mongols. Current building was erected in 1278-1289, in times of King Demetre Tavdadebuli (Dmitry the Sacrificed). As a result, the current domed construction is of XIII c. with the layout strongly influenced by that of the previous church as far as the design with three extended apses and four independently erected dome supporting columns is absolutely unknown for the referred above period of construction of the temple.

Facades faced with neatly hewn stones indicate formation of the new decorative system: walls are parted by horizontal strips/belts or small inches arranged on northern and western facades. At the same time the system with a huge cross and a couple of fretwork squares already used in earlier times, has been repeated on the exterior of the extended apse of the sanctuary. Metekhi temple is richly adorned with fretwork performed by good professionals, although this decoration lacks expressive plasticity so common for previous centuries.

During its long lifespan the temple has been reconstructed for many times. There are several layers of brickwork refurbishment conducted in XVI, XVII, XVIII and XIX cc. traces of which are easily noticeable on the construction body.

Following the establishment of Russian rule in Georgia remains of the stone wall surrounding the temple had been destroyed and a prison was built instead. After the Soviets took over, the prison was abolished in 1934 and the whole of the space together with the church was rearranged as the art museum. Afterwards, when the museum has been relocated, the church was emptied. In different times it was used as an artistic workshop, and finally as a theater. Currently the temple is active again.

Sioni is Tbilisi cathedral temple. Built in the name of Dormition of the Mother of God in the Old City, on the river bank, it has been destroyed several times, the most devastating of which took place in 1225, during the invasion of Khorezmians.

Apparently the original building was built sometime in the turn of VI-VII cc. Current building has got the “recorded cross” configuration. From the outside it is a rectangular construction with arms extending from the dome, thus making the shape of cross. Arms are covered by two-pitched roofs, while the lower sections between them have got single pitched covers. The dome is rested on one pair of columns and apse edges. Internal layers of the temple are built of brick. Arches, typical for Islamic architecture are of later times, possibly of XVI-XVII cc., apparently contemporaneous of restoration activities, launched by King Vakhtang VI in 1710 when the dome and upper sections of the building were faced with nearly hewn yellow tuff adorned with fretwork and risings. As for the lower sections they were faced in XIX c with the same rock but in totally different character.

The early XIX c. is one of the milestones in the history of Sioni Cathedral – one of the greatest sacred objects of Georgian Orthodox Church – the cross of st. Nino – the convertor of Georgians – made of vine rods tied with her own braid – for some time kept in Russia – was returned back to Georgia and rested with honors in the Cathedral.

The sanctuary, arms and dome of the Cathedral are covered with paintings performed in 1850-ies by a famous Russian military and artist Gregory Gagarin, who also was the author of the sketch of the iconostasses, designed in the Byzantine style. It had stood in the temple until 1980-ies consequently being replaced by a stone arcaded one, traditional for Georgian art. In the same times well-known Georgian artist Levan Tsutskiridze painted the inner arm spaces of the cathedral interior. Slightly earlier, during the restoration activities the southern brickwork chapel was faced with stone slabs. This chapel rebuilt in XVII c. by Archbishop of Tbilisi Elyse, was restored according to the remains of the earlier, XIII century chapel.

Several graves of outstanding persons are arranged withing the Cathedral. All patriarchs of Georgian Orthodox Church late after 1917 are buried here as well.

Anchiskhati is the earliest of Tbilisi churches. It is located on the right bank of the Mtkvari river in Kala, one of the neighborhoods of the old city. The original building built of neatly hewn stones is dated back by the early VI c. AD. Mother of God church of Anchiskhati was built by the heir and successor of King Vakhtang Gorgasali – Dachi, also known as Dachi Ujarmeli.

Current name of the church – “Anchiskhati” – was given to it in XVII c. after the in-create icon of the Virgin adorned with the precious metal coatingcoined by the brilliant XII c goldsmith Beka Opizari was rested there being transferred from Anchi monastery located in south Georgia, occupied by Turks by those times and consequently incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. In XVIII c. the church was one of the leading centers of education and culture – a theological seminary was functioning in there.

The original building has suffered many reconstructions during its long lifespan. Entire upper sections of the construction were restored in XVII c, when bricks were instead of initial stones. Totally incompatible and ill-fitted dome was constructed in XIX c coupled with rather ugly and rough bell-tower attached to the building from the west. Several new windows cut through the walls at the same time, even more worsened the entire condition of the construction. Current brickwork bell-tower, one of the most interesting monuments of late medieval Georgian architecture was constructed in 1675, under the patronage of Patriarch Domentios. The most resent restoration of the monument started in 1958, when under the leadership of architect R. Gverdtsiteli all XIX c additions and superstructures were removed and the monument has been restored at the possible closest to its original features.

The church is typical three nave basilica with three entrance openings thorough the lateral and western walls. The original apse of the altar is hidden by the rectangular outline of the church. A pair of separate rooms, one at each side of the apse clearly indicates that tri-sectional developed type of the sanctuary was well known in Early Christian Georgian architecture. Initially the whole of internal space had been split by three pairs of cross-shaped columns. Two new pairs of round in shape columns were added to them in XVII c. that significantly changed original features of the interior. Fragments of wall painting performed in 1683, in times of Patriarch Nikolas are preserved in the sanctuary and front of the apse. Some other fragments of the wall painting conducted in the first half of XIX c. are preserved on the middle nave and walls.

Tours > Cultural tours > Georgia – classical tour

Want to taste the best wines, learn about the oldest wine making traditions and modern technologies, see medieval fortresses and churches, beautiful nature, take a drive on one of the most extreme roads – legendary Georgian military road to the great Caucasus mountains with the experienced driver and pass the cross pass, enjoy a view on the permanently snowy peak Kazbegi and waterfalls coming from the glacier, visit the antic carved- in- rock city and UNESCO world heritage sites, churches built at the dawn of Christianity, call at the famous for its mineral water resorts and taste it directly from the springs, drive via ancient silk road, see the ruins of the bronze age fortress and visit the lakes above 2000 meters from the sea level? Wander if all this is possible in one single tour? If the tour takes place in Georgia, then the answer is definitely YES!

Classical tour in Georgia includes Tbilisi city tour, Kakheti cultural and wine tours, Kazbegi, Kutaisi and Mesklheti tours. It is available for everyone and almost any time of year!
Read the rest of this entry »

Tbilisi Botanical Garden Formerly “Royal garden” is located in the center of Tbilisi, in Tsavkisis-tskali gorge, on the southern foothills of the Sololaki Range. It occupies the area of 161 hectares and possesses a collection of over 4,500 taxonomic groups.

Its history spans more than three centuries. It was first described, in 1671, by the French traveler Jean Chardin as royal gardens which might have been founded at least in 1625 and were variably referred to as “fortress gardens” or “Seidabad gardens” later in history. The gardens appear in the records by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1701) and on the Tbilisi map composed by Prince Vakhushti (1735). Pillaged in the Persian invasion of 1795, the garden was revived in the early 19th century and officially established as the Tiflis Botanical Garden in 1845.

From 1888 on, when a floristics center was set up, several notable scholars have worked for the Garden. Between 1896 and 1904, the Garden was expanded further westward. Between 1932 and 1958, the territory around the former Muslim cemetery was included in the botanical garden. Several graves have survived, however, including that of the prominent Azerbaijani writer Mirza Fatali Akhundov (1812-1878). The central entrance to the Garden is located at the foothills of the Narikala Fortress.

Tours > One day tours > Tbilisi tour

From 33 €

Region: Tbilisi

Starting point: Hotel

Tbilisi car tour covers most highlights of the city, old and new parts, includes a bit walking and Georgian national museum – the national treasury.

First destination of excursion is modern Trinity cathedral. Built in 1995 – 2004 in celebration of 2000 years from Jesus birth and 1500 years of Georgian church autocephaly, is the biggest church in Georgia – it’s height from bottom to top is 86,1 meters. Actually, Trinity is whole complex, where are 9 churches, and other buildings, like theological seminary, museum, conference hall, etc. Complex is Located on the hill Elia, from where is good view over the whole city.

Read the rest of this entry »