The trip to 4 cities in Georgia for 3 days
Day 1
- Wake up in the morning and have a trip in Tbilisi. See the local places of interest. The first one of them is the Bridge of Peace. This is a walking bridge created from the glass and steel. By the way, it was created in Italy and transported to Tbilisi in a dissembled way. It is especially beautiful when it is dark outside and all 10 000 lamps are turned off and shine, transferring all the names of the elements from the periodic table from which human body consists of. According to the idea of Italian architecture, the bridge was a call to that the people are all equal and must live in peace. That is why the bridge is called “The Bridge of Peace”.
- Pass the bridge to the left bank of Kura River and go to Rike Park. Rike Park is opened for a visit 24/7, you can have a walk there any time you want. There are a lot of trees in the park alleys and mane flowerbeds on the grass lawn. It will be interesting for you to have a walk in Rike Park with the kids: there are some playgrounds that will definitely like not only the children but also their parents (as they are equipped with anti-shock cover). In Tbilisi exists a tradition to celebrate Georgia Independence day in Rike Park annually.
- After having a walk in Rike Park, go to Shardeni Street. The things are always humming here: a lot of cafes, restaurants and shops that you will not be able to visit in one day, no matter how hard you try. This is a paradise for melomanes – background music is playing non-stop. You can even come over a café, where you will hear only Russian songs.
Day 2
- Drive to Uplistsikhe. The city is located 95 kilomters from Tbilisi. The first written references about the city date back to the first century BC. This is a cave city that appeared one of the first on the territory of Georgia. It considered the big pagan center till the moment Georgia adopted Christianity. The city reached its high-day in the 10th century and it has fallen in the 13th century when Genghis Khan hordes attacked Georgia. Have a walk in a cave-city, look at the old halls, basilicae and caves where wine was kept. After that drive to Gori.
- Gori is located 10 kilometers from Uplistsikhe. It was mentioned for the first time in written sources in the 6th century AD. But it is mostly known on the post-soviet space as a city where Stalin lived. Visit Home-Museum of Stalin. There was built one more room to the house where Stalin was born and lived for some time. It is the exhibition part. In exposition you can see some photos and Soviet posters with his photo.
- Stay for a night in Gori.
Day 3
- From Gori city drive to Mtskheta (the distance is 65 kilometers). Mtskheta is one of the oldest cities on the territory of Georgia. It was founded in the 5th century BC and was a capital of Kartli till the 5th century AD. The city was the main religious center in Georgia and many religious buildings of this city are included into UNESCO World Heritage.
- Visit Jvari – the first Christian temple that was built in Mtskheta right after Georgia adopted Christianity. It was built in the 6th century AD. The temple was made into a tetraconch form – a cross with rounded corners. Other architectures started to take the example of this unusual temple form and created their buildings in the same form. It is very easy to find Jvari temple in Mtskheta. It can be seen for almost every point of the city, as it stands on the hill and towers over city.
- Go for a walk in the city and look at other places of religious character – the main places of interest in Mtskheta: Saptavro monastery – the shrine of the main rulers of Georgia, the name of the monastery can be translated as “tsar territory”; Svetitskhoveli cathedral church – its frescoes, made at the 16th century came to our day in a good state; Shio-Mgvime monastery – called in honor of Saint Shio Mgvime who came to Georgia from Syria and founded this very monastery.
- Come back to Tbilisi. The distance is 27 kilometers.