The City Built by Five Faiths and Empires: A Tbilisi Walking Tour
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About the Tour
About the Tour
Tbilisi’s old town sits at the crossroads of empires, where you’ll find Persian fire temples beside Georgian churches and Armenian monasteries.
On this walking tour, you’ll wander medieval streets, delve into underground markets, and ride the gondola to get epic views of the city. As you explore the ancient heart of the city, you’ll hear about its centuries of invasions and occupations – and the resilient multicultural community that survived them.
The tour starts at Freedom Square where the old city gates once stood, with a river flowing past medieval walls. You’ll descend to explore archaeological remnants of fortifications dating to the 400s, then wind through narrow streets past Anchiskhati Basilic, a three-nave church built in the 500s. You’ll discover Sioni Cathedral, where Russian troops gathered Georgian nobles in 1801 to inform them they no longer had an independent country.
You’ll see the Mother of Georgia statue and descend through the Betlemi district, passing a Zoroastrian temple that once hosted fire worship ceremonies. The tour ends on Tabidze Street, named for a Georgian poet who survived Stalin’s Great Terror, only to take his own life in a psychiatric ward.
On this 90-minute tour, you’ll also have a chance to:
- Visit the Armenian Bazaar square, where 100,000 Georgians were reportedly beheaded in 1226 for refusing to stomp on religious icons
- See St. Virgin Mary Temple of Norashen, seized by the Georgian Orthodox Church in 1994 despite government recognition of its Armenian heritage
- Admire the Gabriadze puppet theatre with its whimsical clocktower
- Cross the glass Bridge of Peace to Rike Park
- Ride a gondola up to Narikala Castle, a fortress that predates the city’s supposed founding and served as an ammunition depot until lightning struck it in 1848
- Pass the Great Synagogue built in 1904 by the Jewish community from Akhaltsikhe
- Browse traditional Georgian rugs from the Khevsureti region along the old trading streets
- Stand before monuments to famous Tbilisi Armenians, including court musician Sayat-Nova and director Sergei Parajanov
This tour reveals how Armenians, Georgians, Persians, Jews, and Russians shaped Tbilisi into the layered, contentious, and fascinating city it remains today.
Please note: this tour does not include the price of the gondola trip.
Tour Producer
Tour Producer
Shawn Basey
I left the middle of flat farmland in the US to spend my time conducting a rigid search of Europe. I have thus spent the last couple of decades exploring the globe and the last five years professionally guiding travelers through the complex, layered histories of Brussels, Prague, and now, the vibrant city of Tbilisi. My journey has taken me across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, but my true passion lies in the deep-dive research that truly gives someone a sense of place.
As an author and historian at heart, I don’t just walk you through the streets; I invite you into the living chapters of a city’s history. I am constantly hunting for the deep historical insights and weird, local anecdotes that escape the standard guidebooks—Hussites flinging poop in a siege anyone?—the kind of secrets only the residents share behind closed doors.
In our time together, we won’t just hit the major landmarks. We will explore the winding alleys of the Old Town and the German and art nouveau gems of Chugureti, connecting the dots between the ancient past and the modern present. Join me for an immersive walking tour where history isn't just a list of dates—it’s a narrative we experience together. Let's discover the stories that make these streets truly come alive.
Preview Location
Preview Location
Location 8
Gabriadze Theatre and clocktower
Let's stop here for a rest while we talk about the tower.
Grab a bench if one's free.
This tower's part of the adjacent puppet theatre building, both built by Georgia... Read More
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Major Landmarks
Major Landmarks
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Mother of Georgia
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Rike-Narikala Cable Car (Lower Station)
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Zion Cathedral of the Dormition of Tbilisi
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Meidan Bazar
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Erekle II Street
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Anchiskhati Basilica
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Bridge of Peace
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Tbilisi Old Town Wall Ruins
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Freedom Square
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Rike Park
Getting There
Getting There
Route Overview
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Start location6 Ietim-Gurji St, T'bilisi, Georgia
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Total distance5km
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Final location3/5 Galaktion Tabidze St, T'bilisi 0105, Georgia
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Distance back to start location130.43m
Directions to Starting Point
The tour starts at Freedom Square just in front of the old Municipal House (the building with the clocktower with the cliffs behind it). You'll need a metro card with 2 lari 50 on it for the second half that includes the gondola ride. Get that at the Freedom Square metro station on the opposite side of the square.
Show Directions
Tips
Tips
Places to stop along the way
If you're feeling like ice cream, the locally owned Luca Polare has great scoops. Likewise, Pasanauri along the old town wall usually has great khinkali at a decent price. If you're feeling like a bit of beer, the Irish pub McLaran's serves both Guinness and local brews. You'll also pass the Tbilisi History Museum in a remodeled caravanserai, where you'll get an even better deep dive into the history of the city.
Best time of day
The gondola goes from 10 am to 10 pm, so you're restricted to those hours. In the evening, you can get epic sunset views, and in the summer you might wait until things cool off if you're heat sensitive.
Precautions
Please note that the small fee for the gondola is not included in the tour's price. You'll need a metro card, available at any metro, with 2 lari 50 on it to ride the gondola
Bring a bottle of water in the summer, Tbilisi gets hot! Plenty of shops, though, along the way, so you can grab one as you walk.
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