0600 GEORGIA (Tbilisi) - Tbilisi Historic District (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

0600 Tbilisi - Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue

Founded in the 5th century in the heart of the Caucasus by Vakhtang Gorgasali (the monarch of Georgia's precursor Kingdom of Iberia), Tbilisi has served as Georgia's capital for nearly 1500 years, and its proximity to east-west trade routes made the city a point of contention between various rival empires. Located on the both banks of the Kura River (Mt'k'vari in Georgian) and dominated by Mount Mtatsminda, Narikala fortress and the Kartlis Deda monument, Tbilisi Historic District is the center of the Old Tbilisi.

Building layers dating to the foundation of the city together with spontaneously developed urban fabric of the feudal epoch, 19th century regular planning, buildings of "Stalin period", all these form intricate city organism reflecting diverse stages in its history, united by the unique "Tbilisian spirit". Most of the pre-19th century city didn't survive due to the devastating Persian invasion of 1795 but the district houses a bulk of the tourist attractions in Tbilisi, including churches, museums, sulphur bathhouses, and peculiar wooden houses.

In the 19th century, the core of Old Tbilisi was tentatively subdivided into ethnic neighborhoods, such as Avlabari with its Armenian and Georgian quarters, Alexanderdorf German quarter (on the left bank) and the Persian Quarter (Said-Abad) on the right bank. One of the main avenues of the Old Tblisi is Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue, located on the left bank and named after David IV, who banished the Seljuk Turks and moved his residence from Kutaisi to Tbilisi. Much of the area was built by the German contractor Friederich Vezel in the 1880s.

About the stamps
Unfortunately, the stamps had disappeared (obviously, they were stolen after the applying of postmark on destination, to Ploieşti).

References
Tbilisi - Wikipedia
Tbilisi Historic District - UNESCO official website

Sender: Khatuna Tamar Kipiani (direct swap)
Sent from Tbilisi (Tbilisi / Georgia), on 05.03.2013
Photo: Zurab Gengiuri