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Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi

Thursday, 5 December 2024 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union
Category/Kategorie: General, Bon appétit, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries, Shopping Reading Time:  4 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Rustaveli Avenue, formerly known as Golovin Street, is the central avenue in Tbilisi named after the medieval Georgian poet, Shota Rustaveli.

The avenue starts at Freedom Square and extends for about 1.5 km in length, before it turns into an extension of Kostava Street. Rustaveli is often considered the main thoroughfare of Tbilisi due to the numerous governmental, public, cultural, and business buildings that are located along or near the avenue. The Parliament of Georgia building, the Georgian National Opera Theater, the Rustaveli State Academic Theater, the Georgian Academy of Sciences, Kashveti Church, the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts, Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia (part of the Georgian National Museum), and Biltmore Hotel Tbilisi among others, are all located on Rustaveli.

Rustaveli Avenue has its origins in the Digomi Road which connected Tbilisi to the North Caucasus via the village of Digomi to the city’s north. The course of the Digomi Road partly coincided with that of the current avenue. Mikhail Vorontsov, the Russian viceroy of the Caucasus, ordered the construction of the current wide avenue in the 1840s as part of a project to Europeanize the Persian-style city. The avenue was initially named Golovinskiy prospekt after Yevgeny Golovin, an earlier Russian viceroy. In 1918, the street received its current name in honor of medieval Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli.

In 1959, an aerial cable car was opened between Rustaveli Avenue and Mount Mtatsminda. In 1966, the Rustaveli metro station opened at the avenue’s northern end, followed in 1967 by the Liberty Square metro station at the avenue’s southern end. The cable car to Mtatsminda was closed in 1990 following a deadly accident that killed 19 people.

In November 2023, Tbilisi mayor Kakha Kaladze announced that the avenue would undergo renovation starting in 2024 and lasting about two years. In October 2024, the Rustaveli–Mtatsminda cable car was reopened.

Rustaveli Avenue starts at Freedom Square. The first building on Rustaveli Avenue is Rustaveli Cinema, the biggest cinema in Georgia. Opposite the cinema are the Youth Palace and former Parliament Building of Georgia. Kashveti Church is located between the Art House of Tbilisi and the Art Museum. There are many beautiful buildings on Rustaveli Avenue; among them are the Tbilisi Opera House and the Rustaveli Theatre. The avenue is full of various cafes, shops, restaurants and other entertainment places. Rustaveli Avenue is a mix of modern and 20th-century architecture. Rustaveli Avenue is a place of many public protests, but it’s also the place of many outdoor exhibitions, performances, etc. The avenue is one of the best architectural and tourist centers of Tbilisi.

Read more on Wikipedia Rustaveli Avenue (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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