Recomendations From Tblisi residents – JOSEPH ALEXANDER SMITH – Journalist living in Georgia
1. PANTHEON ON MAMA DAVITI
If you go to Mtatsminda on the funicular, you can get to the pantheon at the mid-way stop…or you can walk there up the cobbled street. The pantheon is the national open-air necropolis featuring the graves of a plethora of Georgian public figures. Nearby is the Mama Daviti Church, an ideally quiet place from which you can also enjoy magnificent views of Tbilisi, especially at sunset.
2. GRAVEYARD OF MUSLIMS
An interesting place at the gate of the Botanical garden. This location was called Gorkhana and every Muslim living in Tbilisi was buried there. In Soviet times the majority of graves were leveled off with tractors and only a few graves of famous Muslin public figures have survived.
3. THE ARMENIAN CHURCH OF SURB GEVORG ON MEIDANI
It is regarded as the oldest Armenian church in Tbilisi, built in 1251. Famous Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, much respected in Georgia, is buried near the yard wall. magnificent views of Tbilisi, especially at sunset.
4. KUKIA
A district at the edge of Chughureti and Aghmashenebeli districts. Kukia itself is divided into mini-districts where reliefs, cemeteries, abandoned territories and railways serve as boundaries. There is a lack of public spaces, and cemeteries have a function of landscaping. Upper Kukia is famous for its densely neighborhoods, where the locals created a public space on its own, giving an artistic feel to the district.
5. ORTACHALA FLEA MARKET (near Samgori metro-station)
A place with lots of Soviet artifacts where you can buy and also exchange.