National Opera
An oriental-style facade.
Kober — Public domain · Gilad Rom from Israel — CC BY 2.0 · Alexkom000 — CC BY 4.0 · Mehman Ibragimov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Robot8A — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kober — Public domain · Andrzej Wójtowicz from Poznań, Poland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kober — Public domain
Tbilisi's main avenue, starting at Freedom Square and running for about a kilometre and a half, named after the medieval poet Shota Rustaveli, author of the epic «The Knight in the Panther's Skin». Lined with shady plane trees and elegant nineteenth-century buildings, it is the heart of the capital's official and cultural life. The Russian viceroy Mikhail Vorontsov ordered it built in the 1840s as part of a project to give the city a European look. First named Golovin Street, it has carried its present name since 1918, and it has witnessed many of the great events of modern Georgian history as the traditional place for celebrations and rallies. The country's leading institutions stand along it, including the Parliament, the National Opera with its oriental style, the Rustaveli Theatre, the Academy of Sciences, the stone Kashveti Church, the Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum, with cafés, bookshops and stores in between; at New Year the trees are wrapped in lights. Strolling is free. The best way to explore is on foot from Freedom Square to Rustaveli metro station, with a stop at the National Museum. Traffic is heavy, so use the pedestrian crossings and underpasses.
An oriental-style facade.
A stone church on the avenue.
Under the plane trees.
From Freedom Square north for about 1.5 km, central Tbilisi
Kashveti ChurchSt George's Church of Kashveti is a working Georgian Orthodox church on Rustavel4 minutes walk
Georgian National Museum (Simon Janashia Museum)Georgia's leading museum of history and archaeology, officially the Simon Janash6 minutes walk4.3
Dry Bridge MarketAn open-air market of antiques and old curiosities in central Tbilisi, around th7 minutes walk4.5
Gabriadze Theatre Clock TowerA leaning clock tower straight out of a fairy tale, on Shavteli Street in Tbilis12 minutes walk4.8
Anchiskhati BasilicaTbilisi's oldest surviving church, a small stone basilica in the heart of the ol12 minutes walkWalk from Freedom Square to Rustaveli metro station, visiting the National Museum and Kashveti Church on the way.