2019 Eurasia Adventure - More Tbilisi Exploring

Today we were back in Tbilisi. Our day was in two parts. First we went strolling down one of the main streets of town and then we did a tour of the 19th century part of town. But first how about a few picture from the balcony of our flat? The flat itself is very spacious but like a lot of Airbnb we have rented recently, it is owned by an absentee landlord and has only minimal appointments to make things comfortable. For example there was no cutting board nor any way to make coffee. Many of the light bulbs in the in ceiling light fixtures don't work and the bed sheets don't fit. This is a disturbing trend in Airbnb's and I'm not sure quite how to deal with it. But I digress. The view from the balcony

Marching Down Rustaveli Avenue

The Muse Statue in front of the Concert Hall

These kinds of little kiosks are everywhere

The Georgians love their food in dough

Much public statuary

Street Traffic

How one turns (click here)

And Buildings New and Older

Opera House

Parliment

 Metro Station

Old booksellers were everywhere

A sort of impromptu market

A complete picture framing outlet!

Walking

After a lovely lunch (Mega-Foodie post to come)

We went back to Freedom Square

Where we joined our tour...

...except we joined the wrong one!

We though we were going on a paid photo tour but we ended up with the free 19th century architecture tour!

In the end we were not disappointed at all

Summary of the Tour

This tour was about the architecture of the late 19th century but it was more about the political changes that affected Georgia over the time between the fall of the Russian Empire, the rise of the Soviet Union and the ultimate return to independence. Most of the buildings we saw were grand old buildings that under Communism had been stripped of their 'bourgeois' affectations and turned into utilitarian uses. Since independence, there has been a slow, gradual but steady effort to find what was covered up and neglected and restore it. It is a massive effort.

Note the upper floors of each of these buildings. When the Soviet regime took over, it wanted to eliminate what it perceived as against the state. The upper floors were added on after the Soviet takeover and lack any adornment. On the first building the decoration is in the Soviet heroic style

But certain things were preserved

These fixtures belonged to a wealthy family that was a pharmacist

They are now part of a working pharmacy

So much is in poor condition. You can see the magnitude of the work to be done

A very different and interesting power pole

From the late 18th to middle 19th century balconies were used to join separate living spaces together along with central courtyards underneath

This mansion was preserved because it became the home of an association of writers supported by the Soviet Union. The architectural details were spectacular. May have to think about some work on the Tower

Because of the Persian influence on this area all through the 19th century, style elements from that area were copied

What the Soviets did was paint over any decoration they deemed not appropriate

Now when a house is being renovated, they find what was underneath

And then they repaint in a style that is appropriate for the original time period

A few last pictures of the area