The capital of Georgia, 1500 years old Tbilisi.

From the top of the mount Mtatsminda your sight will command sparkling picturesqueness of the city panorama, lying majestically on the river Mtkvari, bearing the traces of its past and present harmonized.

Tbilisi was first mentioned in the chronicles in the IV century and was charted, in the same century, by Roman geographer Castorisus.

There exists a beautiful legend, why Tbilisi was substituted as capital for Mtskheta.

Once king of Kartli, Vakhtang Gorgasali went hunting with his retinue. His trained hawk, while hunting his prey - a pheasant, overtook it and then by chance both fell into hot sulphur springlet where they were found scalded. The king ordered to build a town on this spot and called it Tbilisi, because of its hot sulphur springs. In Georgian " tbili' means warm.

It wasn't by chance, that king Vakhtang Gorgasali decided to found the capital of Georgia in Tbilisi. Being in high prosperity, Christian Georgia (Iberia) was waging fierce wars against outer invasions. Especially South-East part of the country often turned to be a battlefield of fierce fights. Owing to its advantageous strategic location, Tbilisi became the forepost to defend inner regions of Georgia.

Tbilisi has convenient natural environment from military point of view; high cliffs rising on both banks of the river Mtkvari, steepy rocks overhanging from the East, the Trialeti range branching from the West and the citadel built on both sides of the river Mtkvari gave strength to this naturally  closed gorge.

From the ancient times the town was an important trading and military centre. The transit caravan  roadcrossed the town going from East to West and from South to North.

Wealth and might of the state made the capital a target of numerous invasions, by close and far neighboring countries alike for centuries. During the existence the town was forty times brought to ruins, sacked, set to fire but like fabulous Phoenix rose from its ashes.

All the abovesaid, is a brief review of the town's remote past. Thanks to God old traditions and customs are still existent. Despite the fact, that the town has grown enormously and medieval residential houses gave way to European houses and the population amounts to a million and half, to our great satisfaction, it still preserves unique appearance of the old town.

When one would pass Maidan Square, he would come to trade shops, lined on both sides of crooked street. Besides goldsmiths, one could meet fitters, turners, smiths, bakers, gunsmiths and others. The street to the left led to the king's palace, with a marble bath and a beautiful fountain in the middle of it. The water to the fountain was supplied from the mountain rivers coming through the clay pipes. Within the reach, right in the centre of the Maidan a picturesque bazaar would attract your attention, crowded with all sorts of people of different nationalities: Turkish and Iranian tradesmen, Greek handicraftsmen, Jew tradesmen, Indian fakirs and others. One could find everything on earth on sale: silk and brocade, wine and fruit, eastern cakes and spices, etc.

From this place you could see Metekhi church, Avlabar Bridge, Abo's niche, Seidabad Palace (present botanical gardens), sulphur baths, so well known in Orient, and Narikala Fortress.

Last century Tbilisi had such peculiar characteristic features that were difficult to find elsewhere. French traveler, Baron de-Bai writes in one of his letters: Tbilisi will maintain its traditions through centuries, as its spirit is full of poetry and valour. it is true, Georgian warriors are known to be courageous and act at the battlefield as if it were a feast. the were apt to take part in fierce battles, sing songs and utter poems simultaneously.

Carousals in Ortachala gardens, in Abano district (Ubani) on the river Mtkvari were best known in those days. The way they went on the spree was so conspicuous and specific to old Tbilisi that it inspired famous Georgian poet of the XIX century Grigol Orbeliani to say: "Man can stay in Japan, in England...but should live only in Tbilisi".

Tbilisi preserved many of its majestic architectural complexes of the feudal times, among them is the citadel Narikala, built in the IV century, located on the ridge, dominating over the city; some fragments of the town wall and the treasury of our town - churches, which can be found nearly in every part of the town. Among them the most ancient relic of the past is Anchiskhati Church (V c.). The church was given its name after the icon brought from Anchi Cathedral in Klarjeti. The icon is the best specimen of encaustic technique.

The Sioni Cathedral, erected in VI-VII cc, is one of the ancient monuments, it had to be restored and altered many times because of numerous invasions, last times it had to be rebuilt in the XII c. on the location of an earlier church.

Picturesque mountain Mtatsminda rises over the city from the west and dominates it. On the steep slopes of the mountain there are two churches of St. David. According to tradition, St. David, one of the thirteen Syrian missionaries, who came here in the VI century, settled here and built a chapel. The pantheon of writers and public men of Georgia has been out around the church.

In the present centre of Tbilisi, in Rustaveli avenue, at the turn of the century, on the spot of demolished Kashveti Church, the foundations of a new one were laid, which is replica of Samtavisi Church (1030), a noted example of Georgian medieval architecture.

The Opera House and the Rustaveli Theatre are situated on the same avenue, many of the performances staged at the Rustaveli Theatre have won world recognition.

There are a great many museums and art galleries in Tbilisi, Georgian State Fine Art Museum, the most important sample of late classicism, was built at the beginning of the last century. The museum exhibits famous paintings by Georgian artists and preserves Georgian National Treasury as well. It's worth noting that a great number of Georgian artists' paintings are exhibited in various famous museums of the world.

Georgian State Historical-Ethnographic Museum after Djanashia should be distinguished, with its versatile expositions, obtained as a result of archeological excavations that provide visitor with reliable information about history, ethnography and culture of Georgia.

Tbilisi is a multinational town, where Georgians, Greeks, Jews, Armenians, Azerbaijanians, Russians, Germans, Curds and others have been living friendly for centuries. The evidence for the abovesaid is the fact that next to orthodox churches there were erected Mosques, Synagogue, Armenian " Sup Sarkis" and catholic churches.

The town looks beautiful with its avenues, parks and streets merged in evergreen poplar trees and fir-trees, bridges over the Mtkvari and peculiar old houses with wooden balconies, just like swallow nests, fixed in rows to the rocky, steep of the river Mtkvari, at the foot of Metekhi.

You can go to Mtatsminda by the funicular railway, one of the longest cableways in the world, built in 1905.

On the top of the Sololaki mountain, to the west of the town, a huge statue of "Kartlis Deda" (Mother of Georgia) is erected, with a bowl of wine in one hand to welcome friends and a bare sword in the other hand to defend Georgia against enemy. This statue is the symbol of Tbilisi, that have undergone great hardships and sufferings through centuries but still remains unsubjugated and undefeated.