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Tbilisi
KNOWLEDGE OF Tbilisi
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.
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 forested 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.
Archaelogical 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 halfs 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).
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.
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.
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 forested 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.
Archaelogical 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 halfs 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).
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.
Chapi