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48 hours in Tbilisi, the most beautiful city in the Caucasus

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48 hours in Tbilisi, the most beautiful city in the Caucasus

The last cultural bastion of the West, in the Caucasus between Europe and Asia, Georgia is an increasingly popular destination on the European travel market for the monumentality of its Romanesque (Christian Orthodox) churches and for its food and wine richness. Georgian hospitality – as fat as it is exuberant – brings to the table dishes that mix European tradition with oriental flavors. Strong colors and flavors between frequent toasts, because the name Georgia comes from geo (land): it was given by the Greeks to the land of agriculture where they learned the art of growing vines and producing wine. And Saperavi red is in the Olympus of great labels. The first attraction however remains Tbilisi – the most beautiful capital of the Caucasus, wrapped in the bends of the Mtkvari River and surrounded by hills dominated by churches and fortresses. A cultured, dynamic, refined city with art galleries, ballets, cafes, restaurants, music clubs, nightlife, markets. Modern practices that are combined with precious icons and archaic rites of the monumental Orthodox churches and with the ancient art of forging swords, an activity still alive in historic Tbilisi.

FIRST DAY
MORNING

Already for the Greeks Tbilisi was an important commercial crossroads towards the East, so it was then for the Romans and the Persians who occupied it in the 4th century. Later it became a station on the Silk Road: a center for carpet making, forging of weapons and for wine production. The city is divided by the winding course of the Mtkvari River. On its left bank is its most impressive site, the Orthodox church of Metekhi, built in the 5th century on a cliff overlooking the river: altar of royal weddings, destroyed by the Mongols and the earthquake, rebuilt and transformed several times in prison by the tsars (Maxim Gorky was imprisoned there) and in the theater by the Soviets, to be rededicated in the 1980s. It is the monumental testimony of the troubled history of Tbilisi. Group weddings in costume are celebrated there. On the nearby Metekhi bridge, Christians who refused conversion during the Islamic invasion were martyred. And on the opposite side of the river is the last remaining mosque, frequented by the Azerbaijani minority. It can be seen from the domes of the sulfur bath complex, the Abanotubani: extolled by Aleksandr Pushkin and Alexandre Dumas as the best bathroom of one’s life. From the spa comes the name of the city itself – tbili in Georgian means ‘hot’ – and the same urban development. In front of the thermal baths you can see the houses with wooden balconies of the Azerbaijani village.

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AFTERNOON
On the right bank, the old city begins – beyond the Metekhi bridge – in Piazza Gorgasalis (the king to whom the myth entrusts the foundation of the present city in the 5th century) dominated by the 13th century Armenian Cathedral of San Giorgio (Christian Gregorian) with frescoes in ‘internal. A few steps away is the Narikala fortress begun by the Persians and repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt in the following centuries. On Leselidzes Kucha, the main street of the historic center designed by the Russians, there is the Jewish quarter with the Synagogue. Georgians, Armenians, Azeri, Russians, Jews. Orthodox and Gregorian Christians, Israelites and Muslims. Tbilisi is a crossroads of history: there are even the remains of a Zoroastrian temple, the ancient Parsi religion. Between its streets West and East mix continuously in a city of European culture with Asian bazaars.

PRICE
Georgia is a country for gourmets. The typical dish is khachapuri: a cheese focaccia that has nothing to envy to that of Recco. Then badrijani: eggplant stuffed with walnut sauce. Khinkali: local ravioli. Khali: vegetable meatballs. Lobio: bean soup. Then pickles, mixed salads, baked mushrooms, egg sheets, cheeses served with dried apricots, fried or marinated fish, lamb, beef or pork skewers. Served with puri: the savory flat bread, similar to Mughal naan. And washed down with excellent white and especially red wines. Georgian (Kote Abkhazi 43) good choice of Georgian dishes including vegetarians.

SECOND DAY
MORNING

The Georgian National Museum with paintings, sculptures, archaeological finds, textiles, carpets, ceramics, miniatures, sacred art and above all with magnificent testimonies of the ancient gold civilization (extraordinary collection of jewels from the third millennium BC) tells the history of Georgia, bulwark of Christianity in the Caucasus, for centuries invaded by Persians, Arabs, Mongols and Turks.

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AFTERNOON
Chardin is one of the liveliest streets in the old town with cafes, fashion shops and art galleries. Gallery Meidan, 1 Sharden, is the best place to buy Caucasian rugs. In the center, look for the artisan workshops that forge the swords of kings from all over the world: Tbilisi remains the city of blades, legend has it that Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, came from here. Perovskaia is the street of nightlife with bars and music clubs. A visit to Tbilisi is not complete without attending a ballet. The afternoon in the Opera House, in the central Rustaveli, crowded with families with children who attend the classical ballet. Or in the evening at the Teatro Comunale, where men with cartridge belts cross their steps with very tall women with an Aryan profile: the perfect aesthetics of the National Ballet reveals a secret, these beautiful girls have their noses redone. Venial sin in a country which, after regaining independence, makes tradition the bulwark of its identity.

PRICE
Dzveli Sakhli (3 Mtkvris Marjvena Sanapiro): typical Georgian dishes with live music.

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