Georgia’s Capital City—Tbilisi
Tbilisi is both strange and charming in its own way, rustic yet modern. With my 2 days fully spent in the wine region and mountainous areas, a half-day visit to the other two historical cities—Gori and Mtshketa, it seems like I still couldn’t get enough of Georgia. This country has a lot to offer and I feel like my time is not sufficient and long enough to explore and fully discover it all.
Staying in this city makes me relive the feeling of being home, its streets with local vendors, old, abandoned-looking homes, and the people who have an inherent hospitality culture. I’ve come to familiarize myself with the street scenes of my foster home where I walk to every morning and the same sight I come to see at night.
From the last two days of roaming around, coming to and fro the city, I can acknowledge the names of the known landmarks and sites, the Freedom Square, Bridge of Peace, Narikala Fortress, Old Town, Central Street and Mtatsminda Park.
The Walking Tour
Coming from Mtshketa, we first visited the Holy Trinity Church, then proceed to tour around on foot. We’ve visited the Bridge of Peace crossing the river to Rike Park, then took the cable car ride to Botanical Harden and Narikala. I’ve come to see the whole stunning City panorama, a combination of antiquity and twist of modernity mainly due to its latest structures blended to the ancient city which gives it a more alluring beauty.
Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Cathedral is considered one of the main sights of Tbilisi. Also known as “Sameba”, is the largest Orthodox Christian Church in all parts of Georgia. Its construction began in 1989, timed to the 2000th year anniversary of Christianity. By the year 1995, the enormous church was built with elegant structures. The cathedral is designed in the spirit of modernism, and its architecture has little similarities with old traditions.
Going to its interior, it has preserved the foundation of Georgian ancient church structures with its walls paintings similar to the churches built in early centuries. The whole cathedral with its outside area covers a vast portion of land displaying an elegant stair, landscape garden, and separate small chapels.
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| The man who carves the intricate details of one of Sameba Church´s outside post. |
Bridge of Peace
Straddling the Mtkvari River, it is a new pedestrian bridge courtesy of Italian architect Michel De Lucchi and French lighting director Phillip Martinaud. The 150m structure is composed of glass and steel and possesses an interactive light display system with 30,000 LEDs and 240 sensors installed within the structure able to convey messages, scrolled across the two parapets of the bridge every hour. According to the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, the Peace Bridge is a symbol of Georgia´s journey from the past to a better brighter future. (Tbilisi Tourism)
The Bridge of Peace is a convenient cross point between the Rike Park and the ‘old’ part of the town. It also provides amazing views of Tbilisi, especially at sunrise, sunset or night. In 2012 the Bridge of Piece in Tbilisi hit the Top-13 most unusual bridges in the world.
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| The hill view from the Bridge of Peace with Mother of Georgia Statue holding a cup of wine in one hand and a sword in the other. |
Rike Park
The new recreation complex on Rike Square covers 10-hectares in the historic district of Tbilisi. It features a map of Georgia in which regions are connected to each other via pedestrian pathways. The park is distinguished by its dancing and musical fountains designed by a Spanish architect. (Tbilisi Tourism)
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| A musician in Rike Park. Georgian people love music as much as they love wine. |
As part of the walking tour, we have to cross the bridge to this park where the cable car is stationed. We paid for the ride and embarked on our 6 minutes journey up to the hill where Narikala and Botanical Garden is located.
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| Cable car with city view backdrop depicting the old and new of Tbilisi, modernized transport and a sprinkling of eye-catching contemporary architecture. |
Narikala Fortress
It is most known as an ancient monument of Tbilisi´s antiquity. The townspeople call it ¨The heart and soul of the city which was built in the 4th century and has been there from the city´s beginning. It is an ancient citadel overlooking the capital and before was known as Shuris-Tsikhe (Invidious Fort). It was considerably expanded by the Umayyads in the 7th Century and later, by King David the Builder. The Mongols renamed it ¨NarinQala¨ which means ¨Little Fortress¨ in Persian.
The church is still intact and some devotees still go there to pray. Some of its parts are being maintained but the outside walls of the fortress are already worn off and in ruins that gives its antiquity vibe more attractive and interesting. One of its unique features is the sight of its two ancient hanging church bells.
From up there, one will have a good view of the whole city of Tbilisi especially the diverse churches and structures. It is considered as being a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious city on the crossroads of history, a city neither European nor Asian but a heady blend of both East and West.
Tbilisi Botanical Garden
The garden covers many hectares of the TsavkisisTskali gorge. It has stood since 1625 when as part of the fortress garden. All year round, one can see unusual and beautiful plants, a 40-meter high waterfall and a small bridge across the river.
One can see a look of the garden from up the hill, but an alternative main entrance is on Asatiani Street between house number 28 and 30 where you enter the garden via a tunnel.
Old Town
Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century AD and has attracted visitors ever since. The fortifications and colonial stone buildings of the Old Town make you feel like you’ve traveled back in time. With Georgia´s complicated history, with periods under the Persian and Russian rule, its capital has a diverse architecture encompasses Eastern Orthodox churches, ornate art nouveau buildings, and Soviet Modernist structures.
Seeing it at night time, the lively atmosphere of its cobbled streets and caravanserais combined with the riotous neon lights coming from the pubs and entertainment clubs makes it more alluring.
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| The Toastmaster Statue in one of the streets in Old town. |
After touring and buying souvenirs around town, I finally gave up and decided to call it a night. Shota was still insisting on going to the Mtatsminda Park but I know my legs won’t make it and just politely refused. Since it’s already around 7, we decided to grab dinner first before we end the day.
We ended up in an English pub near the place where I stay. I had my food while a band was rehearsing for tonight’s performance. At around 10, I was back to my hostel and got prepared for tomorrow where I’d be leaving in the morning.
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