Other sights in Tbilisi
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Sharden
Sharden and parallel Bambis rigi, along with Erekle II a little further north, are narrow pedestrian streets lined with fashionable galleries and cafés.
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Business Centre
The modernistic complex that looks like a space station is actually a new business centre built by the Georgian-Russian multi-billionaire Boris Ivanishvili. Beyond here the road loops down to the Sololaki neighbourhood.
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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.
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Rustavelis gamziri
Tbilisi's main artery is Rustavelis gamziri, running 1.5km north from Tavisuplebis moedani. Laid out by the Russians in the 19th century and strung with elegant and important buildings, it tends to be the place in Tbilisi you always find yourself walking. A refurbishment programme has spruced up Rustaveli: façades have been restored, flower beds planted and new pavements (on which cars can no longer park) laid. Several new top-end hotels are also being added to its landscape.
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Avlabari
Avlabari is the dramatically located slice of Tbilisi above the cliffs on the left (east) bank of the Mtkvari, across the Metekhi Bridge from the Old Town.
At least twice foreign conquerors (Jalaledin in 1226 and the Persians in 1522) used the bridge for forcible conversion of the Georgian population to Islam (many resisted and were tossed into the river). The bridge was controlled by a fortification on the rocky outcrop above it, where you can now see the Metekhi Church and a 1960s equestrian statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali.
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Old Town
Tbilisi grew up below the walls of the Narikala Fortress which stands on the Sololaki ridge above the west side of the Mtkvari gorge. Today the twisting alleys of the Old Town, which is known locally as Kala, are still full of hidden courtyards and carved wooden balconies leaning at rakish angles. Though almost no buildings here survived the destruction by the Persians in 1795, many of those standing today date from soon after that and still have the Eurasian character of earlier times.
The main thoroughfare of the Old Town today (though sometimes traffic-clogged) is Leselidze.
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Vake
Considered Tbilisi's most prestigious neighbourhood, home to many nouveaux riches and expatriates, Vake is said to have been built over the graves of the victims of the 1930s purges. It's a pleasant neighbourhood of apartment blocks and houses, with a good sprinkling of bars, cafés and shops. Bus 55 from Tavisuplebis moedani runs along Rustaveli, up Kostava then along the length of Vake's main avenue, Chavchavadzis gamziri. Vake's main claim to fame is Tbilisi State University, near the start of Chavchavadzis gamziri. Attractive Vake Park (Vake) is about 2km beyond the university.
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Metekhi Church
At least twice foreign conquerors (Jalaledin in 1226 and the Persians in 1522) used the bridge for forcible conversion of the Georgian population to Islam (many resisted and were tossed into the river). The bridge was controlled by a fortification on the rocky outcrop above it, where you can now see the Metekhi Church and a 1960s equestrian statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali. This is where Gorgasali built his palace, and the site’s original church, when he made Tbilisi his capital in the 5th century. King David the Builder had his palace here too, and it was here that Queen Tamar married her second husband, David Soslan. That palace and its accompanying church were…
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