Tbilisi is an undiscovered treasure. Even in decay, and after much destruction, the Georgian capital is still rich in architectural moments

Architectural Review, The, March, 2004 by Irina Kalashnikova

The capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, means 'warm' due to its sulphur springs. It has attracted travellers and inspired artists, poets and philosophers for many centuries. The location has shaped its history and appearance. Having been inhabited since the fifth millennium BC, Georgia has been linked with civilizations of Asia Minor, the Aegean and with Greece, Egypt, the Roman and Parthian-Sassanian Empires in the Early Iron Age and the Classical period. At different times it has been occupied by Persians, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, Turks and Russians.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In the Middle Ages, Georgian kings made Tbilisi the capital of one of the largest states in the Near East, a crossroads of trade routes and, as described by Marco Polo, a place 'where they weave cloths of gold and all kinds of very fine silk stuffs'. Though Orthodox Christianity dominated, other religions and nationalities were also respected. The main Armenian-Gregorian Church in Tbilisi, St George's Church (above) was built in 1251 by an Armenian merchant. The Persians seized it in the seventeenth century during their invasion. Burnt down in 1795 during the second Persian invasion and gradually restored during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it keeps its original form. There is a remarkable fragment of stone cross with an Arabic inscription on the north facade of the church.

Destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly, Tbilisi displays an incredible eclectic combination of Oriental and European styles. In the nineteenth century, the Russian Empire enhanced its presence in Georgia bringing in Neo-Classical style, features of the Renaissance and Baroque and Moorish style, together with Art Nouveau and pseudo-Georgian styles which prevailed later. Tbilisi became a bourgeois city, its Opera House was 'if not the best, one of the best in the world' (Alexander Dumas). In the twentieth century. Soviet styles also influenced the city. The old part consists of winding streets with churches, workshops, stores, public sulphur baths, courtyards and 'Tbilisi houses' of two and three floors with lacy wooden balconies, terrace roofing, loggias with stained glass and external ladders of different forms and materials. Even in decay, Tbilisi hopes and welcomes. It is a great city.