The beautiful city of Tbilisi is truly amazing and even unique. It seems that very different eras are intertwined here, and in the neighborhood, within a five-minute walk at a leisurely pace, you can find cozy courtyards, as if transferred here from the 15th century, and typically Soviet houses, and modern buildings. Tbilisi is thoroughly saturated with history and hospitality, which is so famous for all of Georgia as a whole, and the unique smells of delicious food from numerous cafes and restaurants make the guests of this city often feel like eating again.
Facts about Tbilisi
- Translated from Georgian, the name of the city means «Warm spring».
- For a long time, Tbilisi was called «Tiflis».
- The population here has long since crossed the one million mark.
- Tbilisi was founded in the middle of the 5th century, and it is much older than most European capitals/
- Many narrow and winding streets of the Tbilisi district of Solokaki have been preserved since the Early Middle Ages (interesting facts about the Middle Ages).
- Once a frost of -24.4 degrees was registered in Tbilisi. And the hottest record here is +42 degrees Celsius.
- There are many wild animals in the vicinity of the city, including wolves, jackals and foxes.
- A few centuries before the founding of Tbilisi, there was a settlement in its place. But the countdown of the history of the city is from the moment the fortress was built there.
- After the collapse of the USSR, most Russian residents left the city, but to this day it is very multinational. Georgians, representatives of the titular nation, account for about 90% of the population here.
- The Tbilisi Metro was built and launched back in Soviet times, back in 1966.
- Tbilisi is not only the capital of Georgia, but also its largest city. More than 25% of the total population of this country lives here (interesting facts about Georgia).
- Despite the fact that the capital is still Tbilisi, the Georgian parliament is territorially located in another city, in Kutaisi.
- The asteroid discovered in 1913 was named after Tbilisi. True, it received the name «Tiflis», since in Russian at that time this city was called that way.
- From April 25 to April 30, 1997, the first ever youth International Delphic Games were held in Tbilisi.
- The Georgian capital has 16 sister cities.
- According to the archaeological finds, ancient people lived on the territory of modern Tbilisi more than 5000 years ago, during the Neolithic (interesting facts about ancient people).
- At the beginning of the 19th century, the main share of the Tbilisi population (about 90%) were Armenians. They now account for just over 4% of the population.
- Several different sources in their research have included Tbilisi in the top ten megacities in the world with the most affordable cost of living.
- There are many ancient buildings here, but the most notable of them is the Anchiskhati Church, built back in the 6th century.
- The huge botanical garden of Tbilisi, covering an area of 128 hectares, was founded more than 4 centuries ago.
- In some parts of the city, the smell of rotten eggs is in the air. The reason for this is simple – there are many healing sulfur springs that spread this smell.
- For about 400 years of its history, the city of Tbilisi was an Arab city-state called the Tbilisi Emirate.
- One from Tbilisi streets was renamed in honor of George W. Bush, then the President of the United States, after his visit to this city.
- There is no centralized heating or hot water supply in Tbilisi. Therefore, in winter, you have to save yourself with heaters.
- Sometimes snow falls here in winter, but only occasionally, and it usually melts almost immediately.