"Georgia on my mind" a T'bilisi Travel Page by traveloturc

T’bilisi or Tbilisi, formerly Tiflis, capital and largest city of Georgia, in the east central part of the country. The city, situated on the Kura River in a valley sheltered by the Caucasus Mountains,

According to an old legend, the territory of Tbilisi was covered by forests In the 5th century A.D. King Vakhtang I Gorgasali of Georgia went hunting in the heavily wooded region with a falcon The King's falcon allegedly caught/injured a pheasant during the hunt, after which both birds fell into a nearby hot spring and died (from the burns received in the hot water). King Vakhtang became so impressed with the hot springs that he decided to cut down the forest and build a city on the location. The name Tbilisi derives from the Old Georgian word "Tpili", meaning warm. Therefore the name was given to the city because of the area's numerous sulfuric hot springs that came out of the ground.
Archaeological studies of the region have revealed that the territory of Tbilisi was settled by humans as early as the 4th millennium B.C. Towards the end of the 4th century the fortress fell into the hands of the Persians building up the city and not founding it. Located strategically in the heart of the Caucasus between Europe and Asia, Tbilisi became an object of rivalry between the region's various powers such as Persia, The Byzantine Empire, Arabia, and the Seljuk Turks. In 1068, the city was once again sacked, only this time by the Seljuk Turks under Sultan Alp Arslan.
In 1122, the King of Georgia David the Builder entered Tbilisi.During Queen Tamar's reign, Shota Rustaveli worked in Tbilisi while writing his legendary epic poem, The Knight in the Panther's Skin..
In 1236 A.D., after suffering crushing defeats to the Mongols, Georgia came under Mongol domination In the 1320s, the Mongols were forcefully expelled. In 1386, Tbilisi was invaded by the armies of Timur .In 1444, the city was invaded and destroyed by Sahin Shah (the Shah of the town of Tabriz in Persia). From 1477 to 1478 the city was held by the Ak Koyunlu tribesmen of Uzun Hassan. In 1522 A.D., Tbilisi came under Persian control but was later freed in 1524 by King David X of Georgia.From the 17-18th centuries, Tbilisi once again became the object of rivalry only this time between the Ottoman Turks and Persia. In 1801, after the Georgian kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti joined the Russian Empire, Tbilisi became the center of the Tbilisi Governance (Gubernia). After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Tbilisi became the capital of an independent Georgia
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, 25 February 1921. From 1918 to 1919 the city was also a home to the German and British military headquarters consecutively.In 1921, the Democratic Republic of Georgia was occupied by the Soviet Bolshevik forces from Russia and until 1991,
December 1991 – January 1992 (when pro-Gamsakhurdia and Opposition forces clashed with each other), Mass protests took place in November 2003 .More than 100,000 people into the streets concluded the Rose Revolution.

Tbilisi is a significant industrial, social, and a cultural center and is emerging as a major transit route for global energy/trade projects (like Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline). The city is located along one of the historic Silk Road routes and plays an important role as a trade/transit center due to its strategic location at the crossroads between Russia's North Caucasus, Turkey, and the Transcaucasian republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan.On the cultural side ,the city was visited on numerous occasions by and was the object of affection of Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Lermontov, the Romanov Family and others. The Romanov Family established their residence (in Transcaucasia) on Golovin Street (Present-day Rustaveli Avenue).This is also the city of Lavrenti Beria (head of the NKVD (the predecessor to the KGB),Eduard Shevardnadze, (former president of Georgia and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union),Joseph Stalin
(dont need explanation)Aram Khachaturian(composer),Tigran Petrosian (former world chess champion).