Avlabari: Armenian Tbilisi

Avlabari is the neighborhood on the east side of the Mtkvari River, directly across from Old Town and Meidan Square. The area has traditionally been home to Tbilisi’s sizable Armenian population, though this has been changing over the last decade as rents rise and the community gentrifies.

The Bridge of Peace

The Bridge of Peace opened in 2010 as another means to connect Old Town with Avlabari. Designed by the Italian architect, Michele De Lucchi, the bridge is supposed to evoke marine ecology, but citizens unhappy with the ultra-modern shape claim it looks more like a maxi-pad than the sea! The glass roof and walkway handrails are fitted out with over 1200 LED lights that emit a bright greenish glow in the evening. As a tourist, I loved this weird, iridescent behemoth, but can also understand the complaints from residents as its bright light floods their homes and businesses throughout the night.

Rike Park

The Bridge of Peace leads directly into Rike Park, one of Tbilisi’s newer green spaces. This is where you’ll find the cable car up to Narikala Fortress and see the almost completed Concert Hall and Exhibition Center that no doubt will receive complaints from the same people who object to The Bridge of Peace.

Rike Park doesn’t provide much shade or respite from the heat (Vake Park can’t be beat if you’re looking for a cool spot to hide from the summer sun), but the city is clearly trying to cultivate the area and make it more attractive for both residents and tourists. There’s even a mini laser light show set to music on summer evenings- perhaps as a nod to the grand fountain show in Yerevan?

Presidential Palace

The home of Georgia’s President is another Michele De Lucchi creation that cost taxpayers an estimated 40-60 million GEL; although the glass dome was supposed to represent a new era of transparency between politicians and the public, the government has never released the total cost to the media and I can guarantee that the irony has not been lost on the Georgian people. The current president has pledged to leave the Presidential Palace in favor of a cheaper residence and instead install government offices there, utilizing the building only for state functions and entertaining international leaders. You can freely walk around the gates of the palace, but there are currently no public tours being offered to view the interior.

Khojivank & Sameba

The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, or Sameba, may appear to be a centuries old national treasure from afar, but the gold-domed cathedral is a recent addition to the Avlabari skyline, having been completed in 2004 amidst great controversy within the Armenian community. As far back as the 17th Century, the Armenians used Avlabari’s highest hill as a cemetery; St. Astvatsatsin Church was later added to the cemetery and became the center of Armenian religious life in Tbilisi.

During the Soviet occupation, the cemetery and church were nearly completely dismantled and the marble from the headstones and St. Astvatsatin were used to build the current Parliament and other government buildings. Over 90,000 Armenians were once buried here, but all that remains today is the Khojivank, or Armenian Pantheon, where some famous Armenian-Georgian poets and writers’ headstones were preserved.

After independence in 1991, the Georgian Orthodox Church made plans to build a new cathedral on this hallowed ground. Construction began and thousands of graves were discovered; the bones were piled up and carted off in trucks to unknown locations. The Armenian community began to protest and construction was halted for almost three years.

The Sameba is beautiful and the gardens are well-kept in an effort to to honor this site that is now very holy for both Georgians and Armenian-Georgians alike.

The construction of the Sameba and Presidential Palace have turned Avlabari into a more touristic neighborhood. Hotels now line the road leading up to the cathedral, offering visitors cheaper rates than their counterparts across the river in Old Town. It’s not all big business though; you still can find local Armenian restaurants on the side streets if you’re seeking that traditional Georgian-Armenian melting pot feel. I regret not spending more time in Avlabari as it truly has a different vibe from the rest of Tbilisi and warrants a full day to properly explore.

Oh, one final suggestion. If you crossed over into Avlabari on The Bridge of Peace, walk back on the Metekhi Bridge, one of the oldest in Tbilisi. Here you’ll see the statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali, the Georgian ruler responsible for moving the capital from Mtskheta to Tbilisi in the 5th Century AD, which is the perfect segue into my next post about my day trip to Mtskheta…