The Tbilisi Marriott Hotel
Tbilisi (IPA: [ˌtbiˈliːsi], in
Georgian: თბილისი), is the capital and the largest
city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mtkvari (Kura) River. Tbilisi is sometimes called Tiflis (or Tifflis), which is its Medieval non-native
name. The city covers an area of 372 km² (144 square miles) and has 1,093,000 inhabitants.
Founded in the 5th century AD by Vakhtang
Gorgasali, the Georgian King of Kartli (Iberia)
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 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 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 only 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.
Tbilisi has one international airport. Notable tourist destinations include Tbilisi
Sameba Cathedral, Freedom Square, Sioni
Cathedral, Metekhi, Narikala, Parliament of Georgia, Rustaveli Avenue, Turtle lake, Anchiskhati Basilica, Mtatsminda (Holy Mountain), Kashveti Church along with the National
and Historic Museums of Georgia and numbers of art galleries. Tbilisi is the home of famous artists. The city life was
immortalized in their art by Niko Pirosmani and Lado Gudiashvili.
History
-
Panorama view of Tbilisi, showing Metekhi church, statue of the 5th century Georgian King Vakhtang Gorgasali and Mtkhvari
river
Early history
According to an old legend, the present-day territory of Tbilisi was covered by forests as late as 458 A.D. 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 either substituted by a hawk or
other small birds of prey in the legend). The King's falcon allegedly caught/injured a pheasant during the hunt, after
which both birds fell into a nearby hot spring and died (from the burns received in the hot
water). 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 ("warm location") 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 B.C. The earliest actual (recorded) accounts of settlement of the location come from the second half of the 4th
century A.D, 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 A.D.
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 becomes a capital
King Dachi I Ujarmeli (beginning of the 6th century A.D.), who was the successor of
Vakhtang I Gorgasali, moved the capital from Mtskheta to Tbilisi according to the will left by his father. It must be mentioned that Tbilisi was not the
capital of a unified Georgian state at that time (therefore did not include the territory of Colchis) and was only the capital of Eastern
Georgia/Iberia. During his reign, King Dachi I
was also responsible for finishing the construction of the fortress wall that lined the city's new boundaries. Beginning from the
6th century, Tbilisi started to grow at a steady pace due to the region's favorable and strategic location which placed the city
along important trade and travel routes between Europe and Asia.
Foreign domination
Narikala Fortress in the fall
Tbilisi's favorable and strategic location did not necessarily bode well for its existence as Eastern Georgia's/Iberia's capital. Located
strategically in the heart of the Caucasus between Europe and
Asia, Tbilisi became an object of rivalry between the region's various powers such as
Persia, The Byzantine Empire, Arabia, and the Seljuk Turks. The cultural development of the city was therefore heavily dependent on who ruled the city at various times. Even
though Tbilisi (and Eastern Georgia in general) was able to maintain a certain degree of autonomy from its conquerors, the
foreign domination of the city began in the latter half of the 6th century and lasted well into the 10th century A.D.
From 570-580 A.D., the Persians took over Tbilisi and ruled it for about a decade. In
the year 627 A.D., Tbilisi was sacked by the Byzantine/Khazar armies and later from 736-738, Arab armies entered
the town under Marwan II Ibn-Muhammad. After this point, the Arabs established an emirate in Tbilisi. It must be noted that the Arab
domination brought a certain order to the region and introduced a more formal/modernized judicial system into Georgia. In 764, Tbilisi was once again sacked by the Khazars, which
was still under Arab control. In the year 853 A.D., the armies of Arab leader Bugha Al-Turki (Bugha the Turk) invaded Tbilisi in order to establish a
Caliphate. The Arab domination of Tbilisi continued until about 1050 A.D, due to the fact that
local Georgians were unsuccessful in their drive to expel the Arabs. In 1068, the city was once again sacked, only this time by
the Seljuk Turks under Sultan Alp Arslan.
Tbilisi as the capital of a unified Georgian state
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 (A.D.), the population of Tbilisi had reached 80,000. The city also became an
important literary and a cultural center not only for
Georgia but for the larger civilized world as
well. During Queen Tamar's reign, Shota
Rustaveli worked in Tbilisi while writing his legendary epic poem, The Knight in the Panther's Skin. This period is widely known as "Georgia's Golden
Age" or the Georgian Renaissance.[citation needed]
Mongol domination and the following period of
instability
Tbilisi's "Golden Age" did not last for more than a century. In 1236 A.D., after suffering crushing defeats to the
Mongols, Georgia came under Mongol domination. The nation itself maintained a form of semi-independence and did not lose its statehood, but
Tbilisi was strongly influenced by the Mongols for the next century both politically and culturally. In the 1320s, the Mongols
were forcefully expelled from Georgia and Tbilisi became the capital of an independent Georgian state once again. An outbreak of
the plague struck the city in 1366.
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. In 1386, Tbilisi was invaded by the armies of Tamerlane (Timur). In 1444, the city was invaded and destroyed by Jahan Shah
(the Shah of the town of Tabriz in Persia). From 1477 to 1478 the
city was held by the Ak Koyunlu tribesmen of Uzun
Hassan. In 1522 A.D., Tbilisi came under Persian control but was later freed in
1524 by King David X of Georgia. During this period,
many parts of Tbilisi were reconstructed and rebuilt. From the 17-18th centuries, Tbilisi once again became the object of rivalry
only this time between the Ottoman Turks and Persia. King
Erekle 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. At this point, sensing that Georgia could not hold up against
Persia alone, Erekle sought the help of Russia.
Tbilisi under Russian control
The coat of arms of Tiflis under Russian rule
In 1801, after the Georgian kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti joined the Russian Empire, Tbilisi became the center of the Tbilisi Governance (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. The likes of Ilia
Chavchavadze, Akaki Tsereteli, Iakob
Gogebashvili, Alexander Griboedov and many other statesmen, poets, and
artists all found their home in Tbilisi.
Metekhi cliff and the surroundings as depicted by N.G. Chernetsov, 1839
The city was visited on numerous occasions by and was the object of affection of Alexander
Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Lermontov,
the Romanov Family and others. The Romanov
Family established their residence (in Transcaucasia) on Golovin Street (Present-day Rustaveli Avenue).
Throughout the century, the political, economic and cultural role of Tbilisi with its ethnic, confessional and cultural
diversity (Armenians, Georgians and Russians comprised 38.1, 26.3 and 24.8 percent of the population respectively in 1897[1]) 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.
Independence: 1918–1921
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the city served as a location of the
Transcaucasus interim government which established, in the spring of 1918, the
short-lived independent Transcaucasian Federation with the
capital in Tbilisi. It was here, in the former Caucasus Vice royal Palace, where the independence of three Transcaucasian nations
– Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan – was
declared on May 26 to 28 1918. Since then, Tbilisi functioned as the capital of the Democratic Republic of Georgia until 25 February
1921. From 1918 to 1919 the city was also a home to the German and
British military headquarters consecutively.
Under the national government, Tbilisi turned into the first Caucasian University
City after the Tbilisi State University was founded in 1918, a long-time
dream of the Georgians banned by the Imperial Russian authorities for several
decades.[2] On 25 February 1921, the Bolshevist Russian 11th Red Army invaded [3][4] Tbilisi
after bitter fighting at the outskirts of the city and declared Soviet rule.
Under the Communist Government
In 1921, the Democratic Republic of Georgia was occupied by the Soviet Bolshevik forces from Russia, and until 1991 Tbilisi functioned first as the
capital city of the Transcaucasian SFSR (which included Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), and later as the capital of the Georgian Soviet Socialist
Republic. During the Soviet rule, Tbilisi's population grew significantly, the city
became more industrialized and came to be an important political, social, and cultural
center of the Soviet Union. In 1980, the city housed the first state-sanctioned
rock festival in the USSR.
Tbilisi witnessed mass anti-Russian demonstrations in 1956, (in
protest against the anti-Stalin policies of Khrushchev), 1978 and 1989, which concluded with bloody crackdowns on the first and the last occasions.
After the break-up of the Soviet Union
Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Tbilisi has experienced periods of significant
instability and turmoil. After a brief Civil War which the city endured for two weeks from December 1991 – January 1992 (when
pro-Gamsakhurdia and Opposition forces clashed with each other), Tbilisi became the
scene of frequent armed confronations between various mafia clans and illegal business
entrepreneurs. Even during the Shevardnadze Era (1993-2003), crime and corruption
became rampant at most levels of society. Many segments of society became impoverished due to a lack of employment which was
caused by the crumbling economy. Average citizens of Tbilisi started to become increasingly
disillusioned with the existing quality of life in the city (and in the nation in general). Mass protests took place in November
2003 after falsified parliamentary elections forced more than 100,000 people into the streets and
concluded with the Rose Revolution. Since 2003, Tbilisi has experienced considerably
more stability, decreasing crime rates and improving economy.
Politics and Administration
The status of Tbilisi, as the nation’s capital, is defined by the Article 10 in the Constitution of Georgia (1995) and the Law on Georgia’s Capital – Tbilisi
(February 20, 1998).[5]
Tbilisi is governed by the Tbilisi Assembly (Sakrebulo) and the Tbilisi City Hall (Meria). The City Assembly gets elected once every four years. The mayor gets
elected by the City Assembly. The current Mayor of Tbilisi is Giorgi (Gigi) Ugulava and the Chairman of the Tbilisi City Assembly is Zaal Begashvili.
Administratively, the city is divided into raions (districts), which have their own units of central and local government with jurisdiction over a limited scope
of affairs. This subdivision was established under Soviet rule in the 1930s, following the general subdivision of the Soviet Union. Since Georgia regained independence, the raion system
was modified and reshuffled. According to the latest revision, Tbilisi raions include:
- Dzveli Tbilisi (ძველი თბილისი)
- Vake-Saburtalo (ვაკე-საბურთალო)
- Didube-Chugureti (დიდუბე-ჩუღურეთი)
- Gldani-Nadzaladevi (გლდანი-ნაძალადევი)
- Isani-Samgori (ისანი-სამგორი)
- Didgori (დიდგორი )
Most of the raions are named after respective historical neighborhoods of the city. The citizens of Tbilisi widely recognize a
system of the smaller non-formal historical neighborhoods. Such neighborhoods are several, however, constituting a kind of
hierarchy, since most of them have lost their distinctive topographic limits. The natural first level of subdivision of the city
is into the Right Bank and the Left Bank of the Mtkvari. The names of the oldest neighborhoods go back to the early Middle Ages,
and sometimes pose a great linguistic interest. The newest whole-built developments bear chiefly residential marketing names.
Mayors of Tbilisi
- Otar Litanishvili 1992-1993
- Konstantine Gabashvili 1993
- Nikoloz Lekishvili 1993-1995
- Badri Shoshitaishvili 1995-1998
- Ivane (Vano) Zodelava 1998-2004
- Zurab Tchiaberashvili 2004-2005
- Giorgi (Gigi) Ugulava 2005-inc
Transportation
There are different types of transportation in Tbilisi, the most popular of which are the yellow buses, that were transported
from the Netherlands by the new government of Georgia. Tbilisi is also served by the
Tbilisi Metro, that has been functioning since 1966 . There used to be Tram Lines in
Tbilisi, that were built in the Soviet Period, but currently they are cancelled. In
addition, there are many taxi companies. The city is served by Tbilisi
International Airport.
Geography
Location
View towards Northern Tbilisi, with Mt. Kazbek rising above the clouds in the distant background
Tbilisi is located in the South Caucasus at 41° 43' North Latitude and 44° 47' East Longitude. The city is situated in
East Georgia on both banks of the Mtkvari River. The
elevation of the city ranges from 380-770 meters above sea level (1246-1968 ft)and possesses the shape of an amphitheatre
surrounded by mountains on three sides. To the north, Tbilisi is bounded by the Saguramo Range,
to the east and south-east by the Iori Plain, to the south and west by various endings
(sub-ranges) of the Trialeti Range.
The relief of Tbilisi is quite complex. The part of the city which lies on the left bank of the Mtkvari (Kura) River extends for more than 30km (19 miles) from the Avchala District to River Lochini.
The part of the city which lies on the right side of the Mtkvari River on the other hand is built along the foothills of the
Trialeti Range, the slopes of which in many cases descend all the way to the edges of the
river Mtkvari. The mountains, therefore, are a significant barrier to urban development on the right bank of the Mtkvari River.
This type of a geographic environment creates pockets of very densely developed areas while other parts of the city are left
undeveloped due to the complex topographic relief.
North of the city is a large reservoir (commonly known as the Tbilisi Sea) fed by irrigation canals.
Climate
Turtle Lake (Kus Tba) in January
The climate of Tbilisi is transitional from humid subtropical to relatively mild continental. The city's climate is influenced
both by dry (Central Asian/Siberian) air masses from the east and humid subtropical (Atlantic/Black Sea) air masses from the
west. Tbilisi experiences relatively cold winters and hot summers. Due to the fact that the city is bounded on most sides by
mountain ranges, the close proximity to large bodies of water (Black and Caspian Seas) and the fact that the Greater Caucasus
Mountain Range (further to the north) blocks the intrusion of cold air masses from Russia,
Tbilisi has a relatively mild micro-climate compared to other cities that possess a similar continental climate along the same
latitudes.
The average annual temperature in Tbilisi is 12.7 degrees Celsius. January is the coldest month with an average temperature of
0.9 degrees Celsius. July is the hottest month with an average temperature of 24.4 degrees Celsius. The absolute minimum recorded
temperature is -23 degrees Celsius and the absolute maximum is 40 degrees Celsius. Average annual precipitation is 568 mm (22.4
inches). May is the wettest month (90 mm) while January is the driest (20 mm). Snow may fall on average for 15-25 days per year.
The surrounding mountains often trap the clouds within and around the city mainly during the Spring and Autumn months, resulting
in prolonged rainy and/or cloudy weather. Northwesterly winds dominate in most parts of Tbilisi throughout the year.
Southeasterly winds are common as well.
| Weather averages for Tbilisi |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Record high °C (°F) |
19.5 (67) |
22.4 (72) |
28.7 (84) |
34.3 (94) |
34.9 (95) |
38.7 (102) |
40.0 (104) |
40.3 (105) |
37.9 (100) |
33.3 (92) |
27.2 (81) |
24.0 (75) |
() |
| Average high °C (°F) |
6.0 (43) |
7.4 (45) |
12.1 (54) |
18.2 (65) |
23.4 (74) |
27.5 (82) |
30.8 (87) |
30.8 (87) |
26.0 (79) |
19.8 (68) |
12.9 (55) |
7.5 (46) |
() |
| Average low °C (°F) |
-2.2 (28) |
-0.9 (30) |
2.4 (36) |
7.4 (45) |
12.2 (54) |
15.7 (60) |
19.0 (66) |
18.6 (65) |
14.7 (58) |
9.2 (49) |
4.1 (39) |
-0.2 (32) |
() |
| Record low °C (°F) |
-24.4 (-12) |
-14.8 (5) |
-12.8 (9) |
-4.8 (23) |
1.0 (34) |
6.3 (43) |
9.3 (49) |
8.9 (48) |
0.8 (33) |
-6.4 (20) |
-7.1 (19) |
-20.5 (-5) |
() |
| Precipitation mm (inch) |
19 (0.7) |
26 (1) |
30 (1.2) |
51 (2) |
78 (3.1) |
76 (3) |
45 (1.8) |
48 (1.9) |
36 (1.4) |
38 (1.5) |
30 (1.2) |
21 (0.8) |
() |
| Source: Pogoda.ru.net[6] 8.09.2007 |
People and culture
Demographics
Tbilisi is a multicultural city. The city is home to more than 100 different
ethnic groups. Around 80% of the population is ethnically Georgian, with significant
populations of other ethnic groups which includes Russians, Armenians, and Azeris. Along with the above mentioned
groups, Tbilisi is also home to various other ethnic groups including Ossetians,
Abkhazians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Jews, Estonians, Germans, Kurds, Assyrians, and
others. In recent years, the Turkish and Chinese
populations of the city have experienced the fastest rates of growth.
Religion
More than 85% of the residents of Tbilisi practice various forms of Christianity (the
most predominant of which is the Georgian Orthodox Church). The
Russian Orthodox Church as well as the Armenian Apostolic Church have significant following within the city as well. Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, and other Christian denominations also make up the city's
Christian minority. A large minority of the population (around 8%) practices Islam (mainly Sunni Islam).
Judaism is also common, but to a lesser extent (about 2% of Tbilisi's population practices
Judaism). Tbilisi has been historically known for religious tolerance. This is especially evident in the city's Old Town, where a Mosque, Synagogue, and Eastern and
Oriental Orthodox Churches can all be found within less than 500 meters from each other.
Sports
Tbilisi's Locomotive Stadium
Tbilisi has a fairly rich sports history. Like many other towns of the Near East with
strong Asian cultural influences, Tbilisi historically had a special area of town that was designated for sports competitions.
The present-day districts of Saburtalo and Didube were the most
common areas where such competitions were held. Up until the beginning of the 19th century, sports such as horse-riding
(polo in particular), wrestling, boxing, and marksmanship were the most popular city sports. As Tbilisi started
to develop socially and economically and integrate more with the West, new sports from Europe were introduced. The
Soviet period brought an increased popularization of sports that were common in
Europe and to a certain extent, the United States. At the
same time, Tbilisi developed the necessary sports infrastructure for various professional sports. By 1978, the city had around
250 large and small sports facilities, including among others, four indoor and six outdoor Olympic sized pools, 185
basketball courts and halls, 192 volleyball facilities,
82 handball arenas, 19 tennis courts, 31 football (soccer) fields, and five stadiums. At present, the largest stadium in Tbilisi is the
Boris Paichadze Stadium (55,000 seats) and the second largest is the
Mikheil Meskhi Stadium (24,680 seats). The Sports
Palace which usually hosts basketball and tennis tournaments seats approximately 11,000 people.
Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Tbilisi
The most popular sports in Tbilisi today are football, rugby, basketball, and wrestling.
Also popular sports include tennis, swimming and water polo. There are several professional football and rugby teams as well as
wrestling clubs. NBA players Zaza
Pachulia and Nikoloz Tskitishvili are Tbilisi natives. Outside of
professional sports, the city has a number of inter-collegiate and amateur sports teams and clubs.
Tbilisi's signature football team, Dinamo Tbilisi, has not won a major European
championship since 1981, when it won the European Cup Winners' Cup and became the
easternmost team in Europe to achieve the feat. The basketball club Dinamo Tbilisi won the Euroleague in 1962 but also never repeated any
such feat.
Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Tbilisi
Inside View, After Reconstruction
Media
The large majority of Georgia’s media companies (including television, newspaper
and radio) are headquartered in Tbilisi. The city is home to the popular Rustavi 2 television
channel which gained considerable fame after its coverage of the Rose Revolution. In
addition to Rustavi 2, the remaining three out of the four major public television channels of Georgia (including
Imedi TV Mze and the Public Broadcasting Channel) are based in the
city as well. Tbilisi’s television market has experienced notable changes since the second half of 2005 when Rustavi 2
successfully bought out the Mze TV Company and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation became a shareholder of Imedi Media Holding at the beginning of 2006. By taking over
the Imedi Media Holding Group, News Corporation entered the Post-Soviet media market
for the first time in the company's history.
Tbilisi has a number of newspaper publishing houses. Some of the most noteworthy newspapers include the daily 24 Saati (24
Hours), Rezonansi (Resonance), Alia, the English-language daily The Messenger, and the English-language
weekly The Georgian Times. Out of the city’s radio stations Imedi Radio (105.9FM), Fortuna, and Radio 105 are some of the more influential competitors with large national
audiences.
The Head Office of TBC Bank on Marjanishvili Street
Architecture
The architecture in the city is a mixture of local (Georgian), with strong influences of Byzantine, European/Russian
(neo-classical), and Middle Eastern architectural
styles. The oldest parts of town, including the Abanot-Ubani, Avlabari, and to a certain extent the Sololaki districts cle
