{"id":12977,"date":"2026-03-04T22:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T21:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ilupin.com\/en\/?page_id=12977"},"modified":"2026-03-31T23:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T21:08:00","slug":"2025-03-31-tbilisi-heart-and-soul","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ilupin.com\/en\/travels\/asia\/georgia\/2025-03-31-tbilisi-heart-and-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Tbilisi: heart & soul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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  1. The palace-fortress of Queen Darejan<\/a> (became the 3rd<\/sup> wife of Heraclius II at the age of 12, bore him 23 kids, disagreed politically) was built in 1776.\n<\/li>\n\n
  2. After Heraclius\u2019 death in 1798, his firstborn George XII<\/a> exiled Darejan here, as she didn\u2019t share the pro-Russian views of her husband and stepson.\n<\/li>\n\n
  3. Darejan continued her struggle under house arrest (with the active support of her sons), but George died of angina pectoris just in 1800.\n<\/li>\n\n
  4. After this, Russian troops occupied Kartli-Kakheti<\/a> and took Darejan to Russia, ending the thousand-year reign of the Bagrationi.\n<\/li>\n\n
  5. In the queen\u2019s residence, a theological seminary was established, and later a monastery. The church was decorated with Renaissance-style frescoes.\n<\/li>\n\n
  6. Beyond the palace wall rise the 13th<\/sup>-century<\/span> Metekhi Church<\/a> and the Narikala Church built in 1996 (on the site of the exploded medieval one).\n<\/li>\n\n
  7. The Trinity Cathedral<\/a> built in 2004 in neo-Georgian<\/span> style with an Armenian umbrella dome, gilded in the Russian way. Expensive and rich, so to say.\n<\/li>\n\n
  8. The abundance of annexes is intended to somewhat balance the insatiable height (about 80-100 m,<\/span> depending on whence and where you count).\n<\/li>\n\n
  9. David IV the Builder<\/a>, a cornerstone, and grapevines planted in a Maltese cross (so that the kings would have a heraldic one).\n<\/li>\n\n
  10. Holy gates, gate church, bell tower. The cathedral\u2019s construction completed the 17th<\/sup>-century<\/span> Armenian pantheon<\/a>\u2019s destruction begun by Beria.\n<\/li>\n\n
  11. Bell towers aren\u2019t exactly a Georgian style, but even the brief fashion for them in the 13th<\/sup> century featured entirely different forms<\/a>.\n<\/li>\n\n
  12. Gia Japaridze<\/a>\u2019s unholy kisses on the Baratashvili Bridge.\n<\/li>\n\n
  13. Massimiliano Fuksas<\/a>\u2019s neo-futuristic petal-or-mushroom-shaped Public Service Hall fits in well (unlike his tubular Exhibition Hall).\n<\/li>\n\n
  14. Here\u2019s Zorba & Bond, a postmodern eclectic hotel with elements of Caucasian, Persian and European architecture.\n<\/li>\n\n
  15. Grandparents are fun!\n<\/li>\n\n
  16. Archaeopteryx<\/a> was predicted by Darwin as an important connecting link. Yet they were only found in Bavaria, Gosha made up a bit about Georgia.\n<\/li>\n\n
  17. I also have questions about the proportions.\n<\/li>\n\n
  18. A bit of Chopin.\n<\/li>\n\n
  19. Born romantic!\n<\/li>\n\n
  20. The 15th<\/sup>-century Armenian Norashen Church<\/a> periodically becomes the site of heated clashes between fraternal religions.\n<\/li>\n\n
  21. The Great Synagogue and the October 7<\/a> memorial.\n<\/li>\n\n
  22. It actually works.\n<\/li>\n\n
  23. Semi-underground sulphur baths in the Baths Quarter (Abanotubani<\/a>), where the Iberian king Vakhtang Gorgasali supposedly founded Tiflis.\n<\/li>\n\n
  24. Levan Chkhartishvili\u2019s \u201cFalcon and Pheasant\u201d, which fell into the king\u2019s sulphur source of inspiration during a hunt. You never know.\n<\/li>\n\n
  25. Orbeliani bathhouse in the Persian style with a pointed facade and minarets.\n<\/li>\n\n
  26. The Juma Mosque<\/a> (the only one in Tbilisi) reconciled Shiites and Sunnis. Why fight when you can choose not to?\n<\/li>\n\n
  27. Bridge of love.\n<\/li>\n\n
  28. And one more.\n<\/li>\n\n
  29. Make love, not war!\n<\/li>\n\n
  30. And don\u2019t drink and drive.\n<\/li>\n\n<\/ol><\/div>\n\n\n\n