Tbilisi (tbi-lisi)

Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia and like the country in general it is attractive and would be more so if there were less cars. By some coup of marketing there is a preponderance of Toyota Priuses (or is it Prii). 

The city has its origins in the 6th century battles for the Caucasus between the Persians (Iranians) who were at the time Zoroastrians and the Europeans who were Christian.  By tradition Tbilisi is said to have been founded by 32nd King of Iberia:  Vakhtang I Gorgasali (c. 447/49 – 502/22) a Christian allied to the Byzantine Empire (Romans), who also reorganised the Georgian Orthodox Church and set the religious foundations of the region.

Standing above the city is the Narikala Fortress which may predate the city and is said to have been an earlier Persian stronghold. Vakhtang I vanquished the Zoroastrians and extended the fortifications but a century later the Muslim Umayyads (Arabs) would arrive to assert their world view, in their turn, expanding the fortifications. 

These again proved to be insufficient when in 1121 the Christian King David IV would overcome them and drive the Arabs from the country, beginning Georgia's 'Golden Age'. 

Again the Narikala Fortress would be expanded and modernised. But in 1222 2,000 light cavalry of Genghis Khan arrived and decisively routed the larger Georgian army.  So the country fell to the Mongols. The Mongols were generally religiously tolerant, provided people were subservient and paid their taxes.  Thus Georgia remained Christian, though many churches and monasteries complained about their metaphysical observances being taxed.  In turn, the Mongols strengthened the Narikala Fortress that they named the 'Little Fort'.

Now Georgia was part of a properly managed Khanate people went about their business relatively unmolested. It would not last.

In 1346 the bubonic plague (the Black Death) arrived, wiping out an estimated half of the population, followed by the first Timurid invasion.  Timur (Tamerlane - 'The sword of Islam' see elsewhere on this website) sacked Tbilisi in 1386 occasioning more postbellum repairs to the fort. 

Despite Timur's repeated attacks in the cause of jihad, eight in total, often damaging or demolishing churches, Georgia remained stubbornly Christian and was eventually recognised by Timur as such.  His most bitter fights were with fellow Muslims. In the Elizabethan Christopher Marlowe's play: Tamburlaine the Great (c. 1587) he is depicted as becoming progressively anti-Muslim.

In the 15th century Tbilisi was the centre of further battles for dominance by a variety of kings and tyrants so that the fortress was repeatedly damaged and rebuilt. Today most of the fortifications we see are even more recent, dating from the Russian incursions, mentioned above, starting in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1827 the fortress was again damaged not by war but (alternatively): by the explosion of Russian munitions; and/or by an earthquake; depending on who you ask.  As fire often accompanied an earthquake when lighting, cooking and heating involved open flames, and gunpowder can be set-off with a hammer or something heavy falling - an earthquake seems a likely culprit if munitions also exploded.

Narikala Fortress - much rebuilt since the fifth century
seen from the cable car from Rike Park on the opposite bank of the Mtkvari river up to the Fortress.

Nearby there is an excellent lookout over the city.

Tbilisi seen from the Fortress
The peace bridge (blue arch) can be seen connecting to the disused Opera House
and in the distance the mushroom building housing government offices
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The disused Opera House
and the Peace Bridge from Rike Park

Tbilisi is surrounded by ravines, canyons and valleys.  The Old Town has long been renowned for its healing Sulphur Baths said to give relief to sufferers of various ailments, including skin conditions and arthritis.  It's a great place to bathe if you don't mind sharing with sufferers of scrofula, tinea or lupus.  But my hesitancy aside, for many centuries health cures have been a significant driver of international commerce and Tbilisi has long benefited from a stream of visitors wanting to take a dip in mineralised water.

In addition to subterranean sulphurous waters this is a well-watered part of the world
This waterfall, a short distance from the old town, is in a popular location for wedding photographs
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A nearby bridge over the stream is covered in locks, symbolising endless love or maybe the institution of marriage.  One lay open in the water - make of that what you will.

Locks - symbolising endless love - one lay open in the water below

As a result of the ebb and flow of conquerors Tbilisi (al-Tefelis) became a centre of trade between the Islamic world and northern Europe. So although Georgia is predominantly Christian there remains a smaller Muslim community in Tbilisi and the Sunnite Mosque has stood in Botanical Street since the 19th century. 

Religion in Tbilisi - the Sunnite Mosque and Metekhi Church (since 1988)
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Our travel notes told us:

'Acting as the fortress and residence of the Georgian tsars, it [Metekhi Church] often came under attack and was almost demolished during the Great Purge that took place across the Soviet Union in the 1930s.' 

Checking this out on-line I discovered that the Metekhi Church had ceased to function as a church back in the 17th century when the prominence, upon which the church stands, was fortified as a defensive citadel.  By the 19th century, under the Russians, the church building was being used as a barracks. In 1819 the citadel was removed and the church building was incorporated into a gaol. In 1938, at the end of Stalin's Great Purge (see below) the gaol, that had become infamous, was demolished, the church building alone surviving to become a theatre.  In the 1988 the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II successfully campaigned to restore the church to the Georgian Patriarchate.