Pages: 212-218
Published: 30.08.2023
Abstract: Georgia is the country of the world's oldest civilization. Georgian culture is the treasure of world culture. Over the course of centuries, the history of Georgia has acquired a self-styled and unique standard due to the country’s difficult geo-political problems and permanent struggles and, as a result of the constant contact with foreign nations, its culture became rich and unique. Georgians had close ties with the biggest nations of the Old East- the Urartians, the Assyrians, the Hittites, and later – with the Greeks and the Roman Empire, Armenia, Byzantium, Arabia, Turkey, Mongolia, and Persia. This is proved by the foreign historic sources - the excellent material for the studies of Georgian history. It should be noted that, despite the complex historical processes, Georgian culture was never restricted, rectilinear or narrow - it always combined the best of both the Western and the Eastern worlds, the proof of which is Georgia’s unique literature, folklore, architecture, science, poetry. The existence of the state of Georgia in the difficult geographic area slowed the process of the political and cultural development of the country many times. The fall of the Byzantine Empire was especially hard as Georgia, after the occupation of the Black Sea by the Ottomans, became completely isolated from Europe and left to the Muslim world. This led to the disintegration of the country, followed by a nearly forty-year struggle for regaining freedom and individuality. This battle went on with certain gradations and it finally ended with the annexation of Georgia by Russia. The permanent wars ended and peace was established; though its price was high. For 117 years Russia has been purposefully pursuing the Russianization of Georgia, fighting the Georgian language, writing, and Georgian Church. In this hard struggle, the Georgian nation was able to maintain its cultural heritage, its traditions, and Christian faith – the tokens defining its identity. The Revolution of February 1917 was first followed by the revival of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church, lost back in 1811, and then – by declaring the independence of Georgia in 1918. Unfortunately, the first Georgian Independent Republic was occupied by Soviet Russia in 1921 and Georgia became part of the Soviet Union. On April 9, 1991, Georgia declared its independence on the basis of the conducted Referendum of the Georgian people's will, which was followed by the opening of the closed borders. The door was opened for all those interested in visiting our country. The country’s unique material and spiritual culture, habitual traditions, cuisine, and resorts became available to foreign citizens. It is noteworthy that today Georgia faces many challenges and represents the sphere of interest of foreign partners. UNESCO expresses its special interest in Georgian culture by including its cultural monuments in the World’s Cultural Heritage List. Georgia is a country of distinct traditions in terms of ethnic and religious diversity. Different nations and confessions have lived here since ancient times. The tolerant nature of Georgians and their attitude towards other ethnic groups are well illustrated by the architectural monuments throughout the country which are parts of Georgia's cultural-historical heritage. From this point of view, Tbilisi – the capital of Georgia and one of the oldest cities in the world is unique. It is in Tbilisi where the merging of multicultural and religious diversities is clearly expressed. Orthodox, Gregorian, Muslim, Catholic churches, Jews, and Yezidis temples rub shoulders here. Based on the above said, this work deals with special attention to the historical and cultural monuments of Tbilisi as well as to the brief history of the city, to its ethnocultural and ethno-confessional links formed over the centuries. Tbilisi was a developed economic center in different epochs due to its favorable location. To our great concern, only a small part of the historical monuments of Tbilisi is preserved. The existing residential and public buildings are mainly of the XIX c. This stylistic change in the city clearly indicates the political, social, and economic changes that took place in Georgia.
Key words: Heritage, Georgia, geopolitical, traditions, Tbilisi, historic, monuments.
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