TBILISI, GEORGIA

Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia and it’s the economic, administrative, and cultural centre. Tbilisi is one of the oldest cities in Caucasus – archaeological evidence indicates that the site was settled as early as the 4^th century B. C. The Persian military governor of Georgia built a fortress on the hill of Tbilisi in the 4^th century A. D., and in the 5^th century, the capital of the old Georgian kingdom was transferred there from Mtshketa. Tbilisi was a stronghold of Muslim power, and a commercial centre from the 8^th to the 11^th centuries; during this period, Arabs, Khazaks, Seljuks and Ottoman Turks successively ruled the city. It was ruled from the 13th to the 18th century by Mongols, Iranians, and Turks before coming under Russian control in 1800 – 1801. It became the seat of the tsarist government in the Caucasus, but also developed as a revolutionary centre from the second half of the 19^th century and played leading role in the Revolution of 1905. Tbilisi was the capital of the anti-Bolshevik Transcaucasian Federation (1917-18), of independent Georgia (1918-20), and of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic (1922-36). Georgia was made a separate republic in 1936, with Tbilisi as its capital, in 1992 it became a sovereign state. Tbilisi’s landmarks include the remains of the Zion Cathedral (6^th century; rebuilt 16^th – 18^th centuries), the Anchiskhat Basilica (6^th–7^th centuries), and the Metekhi castle and church (1278-89). The Georgian State University, the Georgian Academy of Art, and the Academy of Science are there.