Tbilisi: heart & soul

  1. The palace-fortress of Queen Darejan (became the 3rd wife of Heraclius II at the age of 12, bore him 23 kids, had some differences) was built in 1776.
  2. After Heraclius’ death in 1798, his firstborn George XII sent here Darejan who did not share the pro-Russian views of her husband and stepson.
  3. Darejan continued her struggle under house arrest (with the active support of her sons), but George died of angina pectoris just in 1800.
  4. After this, Russian troops occupied Kartli-Kakheti and took Darejan to Russia, ending the thousand-year reign of the Bagrationi.
  5. In the queen’s residence, a theological seminary was established, and later a monastery. The church was decorated with Renaissance-style frescoes.
  6. Beyond the palace wall rise the 13th-century Metekhi Church and the Narikala Church built in 1996 (on the site of the exploded medieval one).
  7. The Trinity Cathedral built in 2004 in neo-Georgian style with an Armenian umbrella dome, gilded in the Russian way. Expensive and rich, so to say.
  8. The abundance of annexes is intended to somewhat balance the insatiable height (about 80-100 m, depending on whence and where you count).
  9. David IV the Builder, a cornerstone, and grapevines planted in a Maltese cross (so that the kings would have a heraldic one).
  10. Holy gates, gate church, bell tower. The cathedral’s construction completed the 17th-century Armenian pantheon’s destruction begun by Beria.
  11. Bell towers aren’t exactly a Georgian style, but even the brief fashion for them in the 13th century featured entirely different forms.
  12. Gia Japaridze’s unholy kisses on the Baratashvili Bridge.
  13. Massimiliano Fuksas’s neo-futuristic petal-or-mushroom-shaped Public Service Hall fits in well (unlike his tubular Exhibition Hall).
  14. Here’s Zorba & Bond, a postmodern eclectic hotel with elements of Caucasian, Persian and European architecture.
  15. Grandparents are fun!
  16. Archaeopteryx was predicted by Darwin as an important connecting link. Yet they were only found in Bavaria, Gosha made up a bit about Georgia.
  17. I also have questions about the proportions.
  18. A bit of Chopin.
  19. Born romantic!
  20. The 15th-century Armenian Norashen Church periodically becomes the site of heated clashes between fraternal religions.
  21. The Great Synagogue and the October 7 memorial.
  22. It actually works.
  23. Semi-underground sulphur baths in the Baths Quarter (Abanotubani), where the Iberian king Vakhtang Gorgasali supposedly founded Tiflis.
  24. Levan Chkhartishvili’s “Falcon and Pheasant”, which fell into the king’s sulphur source of inspiration during a hunt. You never know.
  25. Orbeliani bathhouse in the Persian style with a pointed facade and minarets.
  26. The Juma Mosque (the only one in Tbilisi) reconciled Shiites and Sunnis. Why fight when you can not to?
  27. Bridge of love.
  28. And one more.
  29. Make love, not war!
  30. And don’t drink and drive.