Tbilisi today is one of the brightest and most colorful cities in the entire post-Soviet space. But where did it all start? The history of Tbilisi entirely consists of events that took place on its territory for 15 centuries. Every street in Tbilisi keeps the memory of these events, unlike many cities that do not reflect their rich history. So let's learn more about the colorful capital of Georgia!
Before the foundation
The history of Tbilisi and Georgia as a whole is inextricably linked with the Kart peoples who settled on the Borjomi and Gombori plains. But the capital of Georgia, unlike the rest of the country, began its existence in the era of antiquity. Numerous ancient settlements have been found in the areas of Didube and Digomi. There is a hypothesis about the presence of life on the Metekhi rock. Tbilisi, before its foundation, was not a flat gorge - the Sololak Range goes to the eastern part of the country and meets the Kura River, on which the Nurikala fortress is located. In the north is the Caucasus Range, Mount Makhatarests against the river with a rock called Metekhi. Between it and the Sololaksky ridge there is a gorge through which the Kura River breaks free. This gorge offers a wonderful view of the interior of the country, enlarged by the canyon of the Tsavkisistskali River. In order to overcome the gorge, you need to make a loop, go around the canyon, reach the Botanical Garden and go around the mountain where the Narikala fortress is located. This fortress is inextricably linked with the history of Tbilisi, which is why the ancient city began to be founded here. But why did this settlement, so necessary for the people and the country, appear so late?
Foundation of the capital
How old is Tbilisi? According to some sources, the history of the city began in 458, when Vakhtang Gorgasal ruled Georgia. In addition to the future capital of Georgia, Vakhtang founded other cities in Kakheti. Unfortunately, the story did not keep the details. Nothing is known except that the ruler founded the city. There is only a beautiful legend about the founding of Tbilisi: King Vakhtang was hunting local game, and sulfur springs caught his eye. The well-known novel of the twentieth century "Ali and Nino" by Kurban Said was even written about this.
The history of Tbilisi has preserved this legend on its streets. Near the sulfur baths you can see a statue of a falcon with a pheasant in its claws. The coat of arms of Tbilisi is also decorated with a drawing of a pheasant. In the Georgian cafe "Maidani" you can order a dish called "Pheasant Gorgosali". In the last century, a statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasal, who decides to found the city, was erected on the Metkh rock in the last century. Cafe "Gorgasali" near the sulfur bathsrecalls these important historical events. But, despite the beautiful legends, it is difficult to say exactly how old Tbilisi is. Also, historians do not know what King Vakhtang expected from the city he organized. Perhaps, initially Tbilisi was conceived as a fortress near the Mtskheta River, but it could also serve as a fortification on sulfur springs. The first buildings of the new city were built on a cape between the rivers Kura and Tsavkisistskali. Now the temple of the Forty Sebastian Martyrs rises here, and Aliyev's square was planted on the site of the Tsavkisistskali canyon. In 2012, archaeologists managed to find remains that were identified as the ruins of the palace of King Vakhtang.
Name history
Why was the city called Tbilisi? Connoisseurs of the Georgian language can easily see the word თბილი (tbili), which translates as "warm". But this sound is later, earlier it was pronounced as ტფილი (tpili), and the name of the city was Tpilisi. That was the name of the city back in the 19th century.
But this name could not be pronounced by the Greeks, who do not have a combination of letters T and P, and they replaced the letter P with the letter I, which gave the name "Tiflis". From Greece, it migrated to Arabia, where it was pronounced as "Tiflis". It remains in Turkish to this day. Interestingly, the word "warm" could be replaced by the word "hot" (tskheli), and the capital of Georgia would be called Tskhelisi.
Middle Ages
King Vakhtang passed away in 502, and his kingdom ceased to exist even earlier. At this time, Georgiaoccupied by the Persians. Vakhtang handed over the reins of government to his son Dachi, who grew up in the Ujarma fortress. He is famous for finally making Tbilisi the capital of sunny Georgia, although no one remembers the reasons. It is said that the young king avoided Mtskheta because of the abundance of Persian spies. King Dacha was also remembered for the fact that he founded the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (Anchiskhati) in Tbilisi, which has survived to this day and is the oldest building in Georgia. And although all the buildings of the temple have not completely survived to this day, some vaults and columns that remember the era of Tsar Dacha, over which time did not have time to work, have survived to this day. They are places of pilgrimage for thousands of tourists.
After Dacha, Bakur II, Farsman V, Farsman VI and Bakur III ruled in Georgia, but the latter had to live in the Ujarma fortress, since the Persians were already in charge of Tbilisi. In 580, King Bakur died, and the Persians abolished royal power. It was at this time that Assyrian warriors came to neighboring Iberia and settled near the Mtskheta River. Then they began to disperse around the country, and David, the future David of Gareji, settled in the mountain cave Mtatsminda near Tbilisi. About once a week, he went down the path where Besiki Street is now located for groceries, to the place where the modern Marriott Hotel is now located. By that time, many people from Persia were already living in Tbilisi. Because of the interethnic conflict, there was a trial of David, on the site of which the Kashveti temple was later built. The king spent his last years in Gareji, but his cave andthe spring, located near it, remained a place of pilgrimage for many tourists. The trail itself has also become a historical monument.
Tamara
In Georgia, Queen Tamara is on a par with St. Nino. The Georgian people have the warmest feelings for both of them. Despite the inexorable course of time, this popular love has not subsided at all. Her extraordinary lightness and attractiveness did not become an obstacle to wise and strong state decisions. Contrary to prejudices, she managed to become one of the wisest and most merciful rulers of Georgia.
During the thirty years of her reign, Tamara significantly improved the lives of her subjects and raised Georgia to a new level:
- she managed to continue the aggressive campaigns of her predecessors, conquer Erzurum and Temriz;
- overthrew the Sultan of Ardabil;
- won the Battle of Shamkor, defeating the Aleppo Sultan Nukardin;
- thanks to her, Georgian poetry and prose began an incredible development;
- promoted the development of citizenship and Christianity among the peoples of the mountainous Caucasus.
Thanks to tribute and spoils of war, the Georgian state becomes one of the most influential countries in the Middle Ages. The funds that she managed to get, Tamara used to build temples, castles, fortresses, including the palace of Vardzia (cave monastery) in Javakheti. The queen knew that the progress of the state is impossible without the education of her subjects, which is why the school curriculum wasexpanded and improved. Children studied theology, arithmetic, astrology, foreign languages and many other subjects that were not known in other states. When Tamara was at the head of the state, the best figures in music, poetry, philosophy and prose gathered at the court. It was during the reign of Queen Tamara that the poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" was written in Georgia, where the writer Shota Rustaveli glorifies such human qualities as honor, courage, breadth of soul and the value of friendship.
Tiflis Governorate
In 1802, it was decided to liquidate the Georgian kingdom, and Tbilisi on the map began to be designated as the capital of the province, the main base of the Russian army. Since the uprisings against the king did not spread to Tbilisi, the situation in the city was relatively calm. Massive construction began. Count Knorring, the head of Georgia, built the first simple residence for the commander in chief. Then came the arsenal and the gymnasium. In 1802, the walls and towers of the fortress began to be destroyed, the first streets of the city began to form. In 1804, the royal baths were rebuilt as a mint. In 1807, the population of Tbilisi was already 16,000 people. Tbilisi was slowly but surely returning to life after being destroyed in 1795.
In 1816, General of the Russian army Yermolov demolished Metekhi Castle to build a prison in its place. In 1824, the building of the Corps of the Caucasian Army was built. In 1827, the elements destroyed the Anchiskhati temple, which was built during the time of Queen Tamara, to the ground. By the forcesof the local population, by 1818 a huge building was built: a caravanserai called Artsruni. In May 1829 Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin visited the capital of Georgia. Compared to our time, it was akin to the arrival of a fashion blogger to an unknown resort. The capital of Georgia is becoming known not only in military circles. Pushkin settled down at house number 5 on modern Pushkin Street and could observe the construction of the Zubalashvili caravanserai, which began to be built back in 1827.
Confederate Capital
In early 1918, the Reds abolished the Constituent Assembly, which did not decide the fate of the Caucasus, so the region became, one might say, autonomous. Transcaucasia became an independent federation, and Tbilisi became its capital. The Transcaucasian Seim in the building of the Vorontsov Palace played the role of parliament. Tbilisi has been in the status of the capital all these years. The federation soon collapsed. In May 1918 Georgia declares its independence. Tbilisi becomes the capital of the Georgian Democratic Republic in 1918-1921. The pen used to sign the relevant documents is in the Georgian National Museum. Soon Armenia and Azerbaijan declared their independence. In the summer, the allied German army appeared in Tbilisi. A joint parade of the two armies took place on the central square. At the same time, Turkish troops tried to capture Tbilisi, but the German army stopped them. At the end of 1918, the German army left the city, and at the beginning of 1919, the British army entered the city, but soon left Georgia.
Despite the many events that took place instate, the way of life did not change much. But in May 1920, the Red Army revolted: on May 3, an officer school was captured in Tbilisi. Everything worked out, the Bolsheviks eventually signed a peace treaty with Georgia, but this only delayed irreversible events.
Struggle for the capital
In early February 1921, the Bolshevik army surrounded Georgia from almost all sides, in particular from Baku. On February 18, the 11th Army found itself on the outskirts of the city itself. On February 19, Georgia was attacked for the first time in the area of the Soganlug station and near the Shavnabad monastery. The left flank of the Bolshevik army began a western detour and an attack on the Kodzhor Heights. The Georgian army valiantly held the defense. At the end of February, another performance begins with the participation of tanks and aircraft. Tbilisi was able to withstand all the attacks on the Kojori and Shavnabad heights, but the Red Army surrounded Georgia more and more. On the night of February 25, Bolshevik tanks broke through to the Navtlug fortress. On the morning of February 25, Georgia surrendered its capital. Armored trains of the Reds arrived at the Tbilisi railway station.
Tbilisi and Georgian SSR
Oddly enough, the initial changes that took place in Tbilisi with the advent of Soviet power were not cardinal. The leadership of the new country continued to hold meetings in the Vorontsov Palace, the Metekhi prison also remained a prison, but with a large number of prisoners. The leaders of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic until 1931 did not differ in radical actions, so they died from execution in 1937. In November 1931 toLavrenty Pavlovich Beria came to power in Georgia, and the appearance of the city began to change dramatically.
The USSR did not last long, and at its sunset a terrible catastrophe happened: on June 1, 1990, the Rustaveli-Mtatsminda cable car broke off, one of the stations collapsed on a residential building. The number of victims of the tragedy has reached 20 people. On October 28, 1990, the era of the USSR finally ended - in the elections to the Supreme Council, the Communist Party receives only 64 seats out of 155. On November 14, Chairman of the Supreme Council Irakli Abashidze leaves the post. Zviad Gamsakhurdia took his place. From that moment on, the era of the USSR in Georgia finally ended.
Cornwood Flag
In the fall of 1990, Zviad Gamsakhurdia took over as president of the country. For a whole year it was the calm before the storm, and then the president was besieged in the parliament building by the National Guard. A fierce war for parliament continued throughout the month. Almost all the surrounding neighborhoods burned down in the fire. The Oriant hotel, the first gymnasium, the Marriott hotel, the communication house disappeared from the face of the earth, the activity of the Tbilisi airport was suspended. Somehow, the Kashveti temple survived, although there were traces of shots left on it. The city began to resemble Stalingrad after the surrender of Paulus. Parliament fell in the winter. Power in Tbilisi was concentrated in the hands of the Kitovani-Ioseliani-Sigua triumvirate. But one of the Georgian provinces called Megrelia was dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. The split was obvious: Tbilisi is a province. To this day, this war is being waged behind the scenes. Tbilisi was destined for a role in this warremnant of Soviet life. Samegrelo rebelled several times - in March and July 1992 and a year later in September. Tbilisi managed to extinguish these numerous uprisings. For a while, everything in the city died down, but this did not add calmness. Restoration work began: the Parliament, the gymnasium and the Marriott were rebuilt. But many buildings gradually collapsed. The restaurant on Mtatsminda was abandoned and soon sank into oblivion. On June 21, 2000, the cable broke again, and the funicular fell into disrepair. Such symbols of the city as the hotels "Adzharia" and "Iveria" were populated by refugees in 1995 and gradually turned into horrific slums. In November 2003, the confrontation between Tbilisi and the provinces began again: the people did not like the numerous violations in the elections. Now residents of Megrelia and Imereti have joined the protesters. Actions took place on Freedom Square. In parallel, there was a rally of loyalists who had gathered in front of the parliament building. On November 20, Shevardnadze escaped from the parliament building. The victory of the province over the capital in history received the beautiful name "Rose Revolution".
Tbilisi now. What has changed?
The final phase of change in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, began in the spring of 2014, when all the numerous construction and reconstruction of the city was finally completed. The city acquired a well-groomed appearance, and nothing terrible happened for two years in a row. The tradition of celebrating the City Day in Tbilisi has been renewed. There was a stagnation of private small business, but a cardinal stop did not happen. However, asPractice shows that the calm in Georgia always occurs before the storm - in June 2015, a terrible tragedy occurred in Tbilisi - a dam broke through on the bed of the Vera River and washed away half of the Tbilisi Zoo with water. According to official figures, 20 people died, almost 200 animals lost the zoo. In the next 2016, which was the pre-election year, the Baratashvili Bridge was overhauled, Pushkin Street was redesigned, and a new cable car was launched from Vake Park to Turtle Lake. Some streets were paved. At the end of 2016, the repair of the ancient Narikalav fortress began, in particular its lower part. But contrary to many expectations, the 2016 elections did not change the situation in the country - the capital won the province.
