Kutaisi: Georgian Silver Age in Street Names

Kutaisi is poetically called the city of May and Roses. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia. In different periods it served as the capital of successive kingdoms in Georgia: Colchis, Iberia (Kartli), Abkhazia and Imereti.

Kutaisi remembers Georgia’s Golden Age. It was then that the temple of Bagrat, towering over the city, and the monastery of Gelati were built. I will tell you the history of the building and reveal their architectural features. But the main theme of this walk is the Georgian Silver Age.

Why Kutaisi? Because I was always amazed by the names of its intertwined streets: Galaction and Titian Tabidze, Elena Akhvlediani, Paolo Yashvili, Akaki Tsereteli, Vazha Pshavel, Aleksand Griboyedov and even Mikhail Lomonosov (!). Agree, it is very romantic when the lion's part of the streets of the city is named after poets, writers, artists.

We will walk through the intricacies of courtyards and alleys, marvel at the intricate urban sculpture and the roll-call of architecture of the XIX and XX centuries in the buildings of Kutaisi, appreciate two huge theaters and talk about the wonderful Georgians who lived and did not live in Kutaisi, but left their Georgia in works of art.