Excursion in Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mtkvari River. The city covers an area of 726 km² and has 1,093,000 inhabitants.

Founded in the 5th century AD by Vakhtang Gorgasali, the Georgian King of Kartli, and made into a capital in the 6th century, Tbilisi is a significant industrial, social, and cultural center. 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 the point of contention between various rivaling powers and empires.

The demographics of the city is diverse and historically it has been home to peoples from different cultures, religions and ethnicities. Despite being overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian, Tbilisi is one of the few places in the world where a synagogue and a mosque are located next to each other, in the ancient Bath district several hundred meters from the Metekhi Church. In recent times, Tbilisi has become known for the peaceful Rose Revolution, which took place around Freedom Square and nearby locations after the contested parliamentary elections of 2003 led to the resignation of the Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.

History

According to an old legend, the present-day territory of Tbilisi was covered by forests as late as 458 AD. 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. The King's falcon allegedly caught/injured a pheasant during the hunt, after which both birds fell into a nearby hot spring and died. 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 Tbilisi derives from the Old Georgian word "Tpili", meaning warm. The name Tbili or Tbilisi therefore was given to the city because of the area's numerous sulfuric 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 BC. The earliest actual (recorded) accounts of settlement of the location come from the second half of the 4th century AD, 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 by the middle of the 5th century AD. King Vakhtang I Gorgasali (reigned in the middle and latter halves 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 Abanot-Ubani neighborhood.

Tbilisi Sameba Cathedral

The Tbilisi Holy Trinity Cathedral commonly known as Sameba is the main Georgian Orthodox Christian cathedral, located in Tbilisi. Constructed between 1995 and 2004, it is the largest religious building not only in Georgia but in the region of South Caucasus, and is listed among the largest Orthodox churches in the world.

The idea to build a new cathedral to commemorate 1,500 years of autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church and 2,000 years from the birth of Jesus emerged as early as 1989, a crucial year for the national awakening of the then-Soviet republic of Georgia. In May 1989, the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate and the authorities of Tbilisi announced an international contest for the project of the "Holy Trinity Cathedral." No winner was chosen at the first round of the contest when more than a hundred projects were submitted. Finally the project of architect Archil Mindiashvili won. The subsequent turbulent years of civil unrest deferred this grandiose plan for six years, and it was not until November 23, 1995 when the foundation for the new cathedral was finally laid. The construction of the church as a "symbol of the Georgian national and spiritual revival" has been sponsored through mostly anonymous donations by several businessmen and common citizens. On November 23 2004, on St. George's Day, the cathedral was consecrated by Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II and the high-ranking representatives of fellow Orthodox churches of the world. The ceremonial was also attended by the leaders of other religious and confessional communities of Georgia as well as political leaders.

Narikala

Narikala is an ancient fortress overlooking Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and the Kura River. The fortress consists of two walled sections on a steep hill between the sulphur baths and the botanical gardens of Tbilisi. On the lower court there is the recently restored St Nicholas church.

The fortress was established in the 4th century as Shuris-tsikhe (i.e., "Invidious Fort"). It was considerably expanded by the Umayyads in the 7th century and later, by King David the Builder (1089-1125). The Mongols renamed it "Narin Qala" (i.e., "Little Fortress"). Most of extant fortifications date from the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1827, parts of the fortress were damaged by an earthquake and demolished.

Metekhi

The district was one of the earliest inhabited areas on the city’s territory. According to traditional accounts, King Vakhtang I Gorgasali erected here a church and a fort which served also as a king’s residence, hence comes the name Metekhi which dates back to the 12th century and literally means “the area around the palace”. Tradition holds that it was also a site where the 5th-century martyr lady Saint Shushanik was buried. However, none of these structures have survived the Mongol invasion of 1235.

The extant Metekhi Church of Assumption, resting upon the top of the hill, was built by the Georgian King St Demetrius II circa 1278–1284 and is somewhat an unusual example of domed Georgian Orthodox church. It was later damaged and restored several times. King Rostom (r. 1633-1658) fortified the area around the church with a strong citadel garrisoned by some 3,000 soldiers. Under the Russian rule (established in 1801), the church lost its religious purpose and was used as a barracks (R. G. Suny, p. 93). The citadel was demolished in 1819 and replaced by a new building which functioned as the infamous jail down to the Soviet era, and was closed only in 1938.

Amid the Great Purges, the Georgian Communist chief Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria intended to destroy the church as well, but met a stubborn opposition by a group of Georgian intellectuals led by the painter and art collector Dimitri Shevardnadze. Beria replied to their urges, that it would surely be enough to preserve a scale model of the church so that people could see it in a museum, and then is said to have told Shevardnadze privately that if he gave up his efforts to save the church he would be appointed director of the future museum. The artist refused and was imprisoned and executed (Ami Knight, p. 84). The building was preserved, however. In the later part of Soviet period the church was used as a theatre. The equestrian statue of King Vakhtang I Gorgaslan by the sculptor Elguja Amashukeli was erected in front of the church in 1961.

In the late 1980s, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II launched a popularly supported campaign aiming at the restoration of the church to the Georgian Patriarchate. A well-known dissident and the future president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia went on a hunger strike in support of this demand. Despite initial resistance from the local Communist leadership, the church became functioning again in 1988.

Abanotubani

Abanotubani is the ancient district of Tbilisi, Georgia, known for its sulfuric baths.

Located at the eastern bank of the Mtkvari River at the foot of Narikala fort across Metekhisubani, Abanotubani is an important historic part of the city — the place, where according to a legend the King of Iberia, Vakhtang Gorgasali’s falcon fell, leading to a discovery of the hot springs and, subsequentely, to founding of a new capital.

Tbilisi Sea

The Tbilisi Sea, an artificial reservoir also on the left bank of the river Mtkvari, is behind the Makhati ridge. Dug in 1951 to irrigate arid Samgori steppe to the east, it has a total capacity of 310 million cu. M.

It is fed by the Iori River, via the Higher Main Canal, which has three small hydroelectric stations situated at various points in its descent from the mountains.

  The Tbilisi Sea has brought the Samgori steppe of life. Over an area of 60.000 hectares state farms and settlements have sprung up, surrounded by vineyards and orchards. The shores of the reservoir and the recently planted arboretum are great favorites with local residents.

Georgian National Museum

The Georgian National Museum was established at the end of 2004 by a Presidential decree. Its origins, however, date back to the founding of the Museum of the Caucasian Department of the Russian Royal Geographic Society in 1852. The National Museum unifies the eight most important museums of Georgia:

S.Janashia Museum of Georgia
Museum of Fine Arts
Open Air Museum
Museum of Tbilisi History
Archeological Museum-Reserve of Vani
Samtskhe-Javakheti History Museum
Svaneti History-Ethnography Museum
Dmanisi Museum-Reserve
Signagi Museum

The establishment of the Georgian National Museum is considered to be the beginning of structural, institutional, and legal reforms in the field of cultural heritage. The reform envisages introducing modern management schemes and establishing a homogeneous administration system.This initiative aimes at elaborating a coherent museum policy, improving the safety conditions for preserved collections, strengthening the education policy in the museum field, and coordinating academic and museum activities.

Museum Of Fine Arts

The museum was established in 1920 by the renowned Georgian artist Dimitri Shevardnadze.

The museum preserves approximately 900 hundred thousand exhibits from the medieval period up to the XX c. and few materials of the pre-Christian period.

The Museum is distinguished for its Georgian goldsmith pieces dated back to the VIII-XIX Centuries. The most significant exhibits are the icon of Zarzma Monastery, the Chalice of Bedia, Anchistkhati and Khakhuli Triptychs, Processional Liturgical Crosses etc.

The museum also houses the unique exhibits of cut-enamel, jewelry and art textiles, medieval architecture monuments, paintings, mosaics, statues etc.In 1990 the museum was named after Shalva Amiranashvili for his outstanding service to the Georgian art.

S. Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts exposes the works of famous Georgian painters Niko Pirosmanishvili, Lado Gudiashvili, Elene Akvlediani, David Kakabadze and others. The Museum also hosts collections of Russian, Western European and Oriental (mainly Persian) artworks.

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