About Old Town

Old Town (also knows as Old Tbilisi) is known for its distinctive balconies of different colors.  It is an administrative district in Tbilisi. Even though the term "Old Town" has been used to indicate the city's a historical section, it became a separate administrative unit only in 2007 to incorporate a number of historical neighborhoods previously included in the districts of Isani-Samgori, Didube-Chughureti and Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi.

Old Town is located on the sides of the Mtkvari River and is dominated by Mount Mtatsminda, Narikala fortress and the Kartlis Deda monument. It is centered on the Tbilisi Historic District, the later, due to possessing significant architectural and urban value, as well as the threat to its survival, was formerly listed on the World Monuments Watch.

This is basically a 19th-century urban fabric with mainly eclectic architecture that includes the buildings and structures from the 5th to the 20th century. However, most of the pre-19th century town was destroyed as a result of the devastating Persian invasion, in 1795. The district hosts the majority of Tbilisi's tourist attractions, including churches, museums, sulphur bathhouses, and peculiar wooden houses with open, carved balconies. In the 19th century, the main territory of the preasent-day Old Town was tentatively subdivided into ethnic neighborhoods such as Avlabari with its Armenian and Georgian quarters, Alexanderdorf German quarter on the left bank of the Kura River and the Persian Quarter (Said-Abad) on the right bank of the Kura River.