Sights in Georgia
-
Mount Mtatsminda & Mtatsminda Park
Mtatsminda is the hill topped by the 210m-high TV mast looming over central Tbilisi from the west. You can get up there by a steep funicular railway from Chonkadze.
At the top of the hill, Mtatsminda Park spreads over more than 1 sq km, with wonderful views and a new amusement park that includes what Georgians consider Europe's highest roller coaster (60m high).
reviewed
-
Statue of Kartlis Deda
From outside the Narikala Fortress entrance, you can follow a path west in front of the walls along to the statue of Kartlis Deda. As attractive as a 20m aluminium woman can be, this symbol of the city holds a sword in one hand and a cup of wine in the other - a perfect metaphor for the Georgian character, warmly welcoming guests and passionately fighting off enemies.
reviewed
-
A
Abanotubani
The social hub of the area is further south – Tbilisi’s famed sulphur baths, the Abanotubani. Alexanders Dumas and Pushkin both bathed here, the latter describing it as the best bath he’d ever had. Abano (Bath St) is full of subterranean bathhouses with beehive domes rising at ground level, most dating back to the 17th century
reviewed
-
B
Gorgasalis Moedani
A good place to get your initial bearings is Gorgasalis moedani, now a rather bland, traffic-infested junction but once the setting of Tbilisi's bustling bazaar. From here the Metekhi Bridge crosses the river to the Metekhi Church, busy Gorgasalis qucha heads off southeast along the riverbank, and Leselidze and Sharden dive into the maze of streets to the north.
reviewed
-
C
Mosque
A short distance uphill behind the baths is the mosque, built in 1895 and the only mosque in Tbilisi that survived Lavrenty Beria’s antireligious purges of the 1930s. Unusually, Shiite and Sunni Muslims pray together here. The interior is prettily frescoed and visitors are welcome to enter (after removing shoes).
reviewed
-
Tbilisi History Museum
Pleasant, pedestrianised Sionis kucha is home to the Tbilisi History Museum. Housed in an old caravanserai, this look at the history of the city includes some wonderfully evocative photographs of the pre-Soviet Georgian capital. There's a contemporary art gallery upstairs, as well as a large collection of weaponry.
reviewed
-
Mtkvari River Tunnel
On your way back down from the Uplistsulis Eklesia, don't miss the long tunnel running down to the Mtkvari River - an emergency escape route that could also have been used for carrying water up to the city. Its entrance is by a short flight of narrow metal steps, behind a reconstructed wall southeast of the Theatre.
reviewed
-
D
Museum of Money
Off the opposite corner of Tavisuplebis moedani is the well-presented Museum of Money, set up by the National Bank of Georgia next door. You can see Georgian money from the 6th century BC to the present day, including the Monopoly-style coupons used in 1993–94 before the lari was introduced.
reviewed
-
Museum of History & Ethnography
Despite security problems, the Svans are reluctant to see their amazingly rich treasury of religious items moved from the villages, but this museum’s collection is comprehensive, and labelled in English as well as Georgian, so it’s the best place to get an overall idea of the glories of Svanetian art.
reviewed
-
Korsha Museum
At Korsha, 2km past Barisakho, there's a small but interesting museum of Khevsur life, with armour, weapons, agricultural implements and the art of its curator, Shota Arabuli. From Korsha it's about a 7km walk up to Roshka, a small, muddy village off the main road, on the route towards the Roshka (Chaukhi) Pass.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Sveti-Tskhoveli Cathedral
Dominating the low-rise town of Mtskheta is this impressively grand 11th-century cathedral, the largest functioning cathedral in Georgia. According to tradition, this was where Christ's robe was buried. It was the site of Georgia's first church, in the 4th century. Its the burial site of numerous Georgian kings.
reviewed
-
Keseloebi
Most of the villages in Tusheti are around 2000m above sea level and have picturesque settings, either sitting above near-sheer hillsides or nestling down by one of the rivers. There's a particularly splendid group of old towers, known as Keseloebi, on top of the crag at Zemo Omalo, the upper part of Omalo.
reviewed
-
Birdwatching
More than 190 species have been sighted in the park. The best months to visit are September and October, when large and small raptors can be seen migrating southwards, and January to May, when swans, geese, ducks, other water birds and even rare pelicans, storks and booted eagle gather to winter here.
reviewed
-
E
Presidential Palace
Not far below the Tsminda Sameba Cathedral, Georgia's large new presidential palace is under construction between Tsutskiridze and Abdushelishvili. It's an equally unmissable landmark given that it's topped by a large, egg-shaped glass dome equipped with neon lights of constantly changing colour.
reviewed
-
F
School Number 1
School Number 1 was gutted in the 1991-92 fighting, but was reconstructed soon after. It was founded in 1802 to prepare sons of the Georgian nobility for the Russian Civil Service. In front of the school are statues of the 19th-century writers and reformers Ilia Chavchavadze and Akaki Tsereteli.
reviewed
-
Temple of Makvliani
Further up the street from the Theatre and down to its right is the large pre-Christian Temple of Makvliani, with an inner recess behind an arched portico. The open hall in front of the portico has stone seats for priests, and two rounded holes in the floor for the blood of sacrificial animals.
reviewed
-
synagogue
Kutaisi used to have one of Georgia's largest Jewish communities but since independence most of the 1000 or so families have emigrated to Israel. A handsome 1880s synagogue in the old Jewish district is still in use, but the smaller synagogue (Gaponov 49) further up the street is now disused.
reviewed
-
Vani
Vani was one of the main centres of ancient Colchis, flourishing from the 8th century BC until it was razed to the ground in the 1st century BC. Some speculate that this could have been the city of King Aeëtes, where Jason came in search of the Golden Fleece.
reviewed
-
Monument
Towering over the square is a striking monument, unveiled in 2007, to Medea, 'the person who brought Georgia closer to Europe,' according to Batumi's mayor at the time. The Georgian government controversially paid over 1 million GEL for the monument, sculpted by Davit Khmaladze.
reviewed
-
Gonio
The most interesting sight south of Batumi is the fortress at Gonio, 11km from town, past the Chorokhi River. This is a vast and almost totally intact Roman fortress, which now has stunningly luscious gardens and is home to the grave of the Apostle Matthew/Levi.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
G
Adjara Arts Museum
The Adjara Arts Museum makes a happy break from many of Georgia’s more turgid and badly lit museums. The collection covers Georgian art including works by Pirosmani and Elena Akhvlediani, as well as European and Russian painting from the 19th and 20th centuries.
reviewed
-
Stalin's train carriage
To one side of the museum (and included in the tour) is Stalin's train carriage, in which he travelled to the Yalta Conference in 1945 (he didn't like flying). Apparently bulletproof, it has an elegant interior that includes a bathtub and a primitive air-conditioning system.
reviewed
-
H
Mosque
Batumi’s last surviving mosque, built in the 1860s, is also worth visiting. It’s finely painted in pinks, greens and blues, with beautiful Koranic calligraphy on the walls. Friendly men often gather to socialise at the entrance.
reviewed
-
David the Builder's grave
To the left of the ruins of the Academy, inside the South Gate, lies David the Builder's grave. David gave orders that he be buried here so that all who entered the monastery would step on his huge 3m tomb, a notably humble gesture for such a powerful man.
reviewed
-
Rustavelis moedani
Rustavelis gamziri (Rustaveli Avenue), the main artery of modern central Tbilisi, runs 1.5km northwest from Tavisuplebis moedani to Rustavelis moedani. The square is easily identified by a 1937 statue of the poet himself (and a McDonald's restaurant).
reviewed