Tbilisi
Tbilisi (
Georgian თბილისი ) is the
capital city of the country of
Georgia, lying on the banks of the
Kura (Mtkvari) river, at . 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.
Early history
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
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 Alp 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: 1918â€"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 â€" Georgia,
Armenia and
Azerbaijan â€" 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 â€" 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 is governed by the City Assembly (Sakrebulo) and the City Hall (Meria). The City Assembly gets elected once every four years. The mayor gets elected by the City Assembly. The current Mayor of Tbilisi is Gigi Ugulava and the Chairman of the Tbilisi City Assembly is Zaza Begashvili. Tbilisi also has the
Tbilisi Youth City Assembly, which is a precise analog of the City Assembly. The Chairman of the Tbilisi Youth City Assembly is Grigol Gegelia.
The city of Tbilisi is organized into five administrative boroughs called
raioni. These are:
*Vake-Saburtalo
*Mtatsminda-Krcanisi
*Didube-Chugureti
*Gldani-Nadzaladevi
*Isani-Samgori
Mayors of Tbilisi
*
Otar Litanishvili 1992-
1993*
Konstantine Gabashvili 1993
*
Nikoloz Lekishvili 1993-
1995*
Badri Shoshitaishvili 1995-
1998*
Ivane (Vano) Zodelava 1998-
2004*
Zurab Tchiaberashvili 2004-
2005*
Giorgi (Gigi) Ugulava 2005-incumbent
There are different types of transport in Tbilisi, the most popular of which are the yellow buses, that were transported from the Dutch Republic by the new government of Georgia. Tbilisi also has
Tbilisi Metro, that has been functioning since 1966. There used to be Tram Lines in Tbilisi, that were built in the Soviet Period, but you will only see them today in Sanzona, a district in Gldani-Nadzaladevi Borough.
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 |
Demographics
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
|
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.
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 (105.9
FM), 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. 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.
|
Historic Rik'e neighborhood during the Tbilisoba festival, October 2005 |
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
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.
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."
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 CultureSister cities
Tbilisi's
sister cities include:
*
Ankara,
Turkey*
Atlanta,
USA*
Bilbao,
Spain*
Bristol,
United Kingdom*
Innsbruck,
Austria*
Istanbul,
Turkey*
Kiev,
Ukraine*
Paris,
France*
Nantes,
France*
Saarbrücken,
Germany*
Yerevan,
ArmeniaImage:night_embankment.jpg|The Right Embankment of the Mtkvari River at NightImage:Tbilisi_Bathhouse3.jpg|Abanot-Ubani DistrictImage:Kashveti.jpg|Kashveti Church in Central TbilisiImage:KusTba_004.jpg|Svanetian Tower overlooking Turtle LakeImage:Tbilisi_bridge.jpg|The Historic Dry Bridge District looking towards the Right EmbankmentImage:Nplg.jpg|The grounds of the National Public Library of GeorgiaImage:Vake_Park.jpg|Tbilisi's largest park Vake, with the foothills of the Trialeti Range in the backgroundImage:Nighttbilisi.jpg|Tbilisi at night. View of Metekhi of Holy Trinity Grand Cathedral]]*
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 languagesGeorgian State (Soviet) Encyclopedia. 1983. Book 4. pp. 595-604.
*
Minorsky, V.,
Tiflis in
Encyclopaedia of Islam*
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
