Tbilisi

თბილისი Tbilisi

File:Tbilisi Flag.gif	File:Tbilisi city seal.JPG
City flag	City seal
Area  - Total  - Water	350.0 km² (135.0 mi²) Negligible
Population	1,093,000 (2005 est.)
Time zone	GMT +4
Location	41°43′N 44°47′E
Mayor	Giorgi (Gigi) Ugulava
Official website

Tbilisi (Georgian თბილისი ) is the capital city of the country of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura (Mtkvari) river, at 41°43′N 44°47′E. Tbilisi is still sometimes known by its former Turkish name of Tiflis. The city covers an area of 350 km² (135 square miles) and has more than 1.345 million inhabitants.

Tbilisi is a significant industrial, social, and a cultural center and is emerging as a major transit route for global energy/trade projects (see Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline). The city is located along one of the historic Silk Road routes and plays an important role as a trade/transit center due to its strategic location at the crossroads between Russia's North Caucasus, Turkey, and the Transcaucasian republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In recent times, Tbilisi is known for the peaceful Rose Revolution which took place around the city's Freedom Square and nearby locations, after falsified parliamentary elections of 2003 led to the resignation of the Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.

History

Early history

General view of Tbilisi

According to an old legend, the present-day territory of Tbilisi was covered by forests as late as the 5th century 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 Square (Abanot-Ubani historical district).

Tbilisi becomes a capital

File:Tbilisi 1671 by Chardin.jpg

View of Tbilisi as per French traveller Jean Chardin, 1671

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 Ujarmeli 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 Tbilisi's 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 Turk (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 Alf-Arslan.

Tbilisi as the capital of a unified Georgian state and the Georgian Renaissance

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.

Mongol domination and the following period of instability

Tbilisi, ca. 1890-1900

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 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.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Tbilisi became the capital of an independent Georgia.

Independence: 1918–1921

The 11th Red Army of the Russian SFSR occupies Tbilisi, 25 February 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. On 25 February 1921, the Bolshevist Russian 11th Red Army entered Tbilisi after bitter fighting at the outskirts of the city and declared Soviet rule.

Under Communist rule

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 Socialist Federated Soviet Republic (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 and the city became more industrialized. The city was one of the most important political, social, and cultural centers of the Soviet Union along with Moscow, Kiev, and St. Petersburg.

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

The recently consecrated Holy Trinity Cathedral "Sameba"

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, improving economy, and a booming tourist industry similar to (if not more than) what the city experienced during the Soviet times.

Tbilisi Government

Tbilisi is governed by the City Hall (meria) and the City Assembly (sakrebulo). The current mayor of Tbilisi is Gigi Ugulava and the Chairman of the City Assembly is Zaza Begashvili. Tbilisi aslo has the [[Tbilisi Youth City Assembly]. The chairman of Tbilisi Youth City Assembly is Mr. Grigol Gegelia.

Geography

Tbilisi from space

Tbilisi is located in Eastern Georgia within the Tbilisi Depression along both banks of the Kura (Mtkvari) River. The elevation of the city ranges from 380-600 meters above sea level (1246-1968 feet). 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 (i.e. Chicago or Pittsburgh).

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 568mm (22.4 inches). May is the wettest month (90mm) while January is the driest (20mm). 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.

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Avg Temperature [°C]	0.9	2.5	6.5	12.3	17.2	21.1	24.4	23.7	19.6	13.2	7.9	3.5	12.7
Precipitation (mm)	20	25.8	48.3	57.5	90.2	76	44.9	45.5	48.6	42.5	36.9	24	560.2

People and culture

Demographics

File:Metechi Night.jpg

Metechi Church at Night

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 Orthodox Churches can all be found within less than 500 meters from each other.

Sports

File:LocomotiveStadium2.jpg

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 (74,000 seats, 22,000 seats) and the second largest is the Locomotive Stadium (approximately 27,000 seats). The Sports Palace which usually hosts basketball and tennis tournaments seats approximately 11,000 people.

The most popular sports in Tbilisi today are football, rugby, basketball, and wrestling. 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.

Logo	Club	Sport	Stadium
File:Football Club Dinamo Tbilisi.gif	FC Dinamo Tbilisi	Football (soccer)	Boris Paichadze Stadium
File:Lokomotivi-Tbilisi.png	FC Lokomotivi Tbilisi	Football (soccer)	Locomotive Stadium
	BC Dinamo Tbilisi	Basketball

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, 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.

Architecture

The Head Office of TBC Bank on Marjanishvili Street

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 clearly have a traditional Georgian architectural look with Middle Eastern influences. The areas of Tbilisi which were built up mainly in the 19th century (Rustaveli Avenue, Vera district, etc.) have a contrasting European/Russian (neoclassical) look.

Historic Rik'e neighborhood during the Tbilisoba festival, October 2005

The turn of the 20th century was marked with an architectural revival, notably, with an art nouveau style. With the establishment of the communist government the style was decreed as bourgeois and largely neglected. Architecture of the later 20th century can mainly be identified with the type of building style that was common during the Soviet Era throughout the Soviet Union. This included building large, concrete apartment blocks as well as social, cultural, and office facilities which did not particularly fit Tbilisi's landscape. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Tbilisi has been the site of uncontrolled/unsanctioned building projects. Since 2004, the city government has taken new initiatives to curb uncontrolled construction projects with mixed success. In the near future, Tbilisi will have two skyscraper complexes. The Axis Towers and the new Ajaria Hotel/Business Complex (under construction) will be the tallest buildings/skyscrapers in the Caucasus.

Periodic events

Tbilisoba (Day of Tbilisi) is the largest annual celebration in the city, commemorating the foundation of Tbilisi. It is held towards the end of October each year and attracts many tourists. The festival was established in 1979 and reintroduced in 1994 after having been suspended for six years due to political unrest.

Landmarks

View of Rustaveli Avenue towards the Rustaveli State Theater

Tbilisi has a number of important landmarks and sightseeing locations. The parliament and the government (State Chancellery) buildings of Georgia, as well as the Supreme Court of Georgia, are all located in Tbilisi. The city also has important cultural landmarks such as the Tbilisi State Conservatoire, Tbilisi State Opera Theatre (Paliashvili Opera House), Shota Rustaveli State Academic Theatre, Marjanishvili State Academic Theatre, the Sameba Cathedral, the Vorontsov's Palace (also known as the Children's Palace today), many state museums, the National Public Library of the Parliament of Georgia, the National Bank of Georgia and other important institutions. During the Soviet times, Tbilisi continuously ranked in the top 4 cities in the Soviet Union for the number of museums.

Out of the city's historic landmarks, the most notable locations are the Narikala fortress (4th century-17th century AD), Anchiskhati Church (6th century, built up in the 16th century), Sioni Cathedral (8th century, later rebuilt), Church of Metekhi (13th century), etc.

Miscellaneous

Pronunciation

Georgians pronounce Tbilisi with a barely-spoken 't', so that it almost sounds like "Bill-EE-see"; English speakers often mispronounce it like "Tib-LEE-see", but that is incorrect. The correct pronunciation is T*-bi-li-si. The "i" is pronounced as in machine. The "t*" is pronounced as English "t": aspirated--with a puff of breath after the consonant sound. There is no voiced sound between the "t" and "b" in Tbilisi. Moreover, the Georgian language is unstressed. To approximate the correct pronunciation, English speakers should say t*-BI-li-si, with a light emphasis on the first syllable "BI."

Education

Universities in Tbilisi include:

• Tbilisi State University
• Tbilisi State Medical University
• Georgian Agrarian University
• Georgian Technical University
• Tbilisi State Pedagogical University
• Tbilisi State University of Languages and Culture

Sister cities

Tbilisi's sister cities include:

• Ankara, Turkey
• Atlanta, USA
• Bilbao, Spain
• Bristol, United Kingdom
• Innsbruck, Austria
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Kiev, Ukraine
• Nantes, France
• Saarbrücken, Germany
• Yerevan, Armenia

Photo Tour

• The Right Embankment of the Mtkvari River at Night
  The Right Embankment of the Mtkvari River at Night
• 
  Abanot-Ubani District
• 
  Kashveti Church in Central Tbilisi
• 
  Svanetian Tower overlooking Turtle Lake
• 
  The Historic Dry Bridge District looking towards the Right Embankment
• 
  The grounds of the National Public Library of Georgia
• 
  Tbilisi's largest park Vake, with the foothills of the Trialeti Range in the background
• Tbilisi at night. View of Metekhi of Holy Trinity Grand Cathedral]]
  Tbilisi at night. View of Metekhi of Holy Trinity Grand Cathedral]]

See also

• Abo Tbileli, the patron saint of Tbilisi
• List of Famous Tbilisians
• Tbilisi Metro
• Tbilisi International Airport
• Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
• Georgia Tbilisi TV Broadcasting Tower
• List of Georgian companies
• Names of Asian cities in different languages

References

• Georgian State (Soviet) Encyclopedia. 1983. Book 4. pp. 595-604.
• Minorsky, V., Tiflis in Encyclopaedia of Islam

External links

• Official website of the City of Tbilisi
• History, geography and climate of Tbilisi
• info-tbilisi.com, city guide
• Pictures of Tbilisi
• Aerial photo of the city center, April 2000
• Tranquil Tblisi
• Maps of Tbilisi
• Tbilisi photo guide
• Tbilisi History Museum
• Macalester College Tbilisi Website