Tbilisi, Queen of the Caucuses (2006)
Tbilisi is one of those silent, serene, and graceful cities, picturesque against a backdrop of the gentle Caucuses. Georgian architecture is unique and understated. The city is sprinkled with cathedrals and churches of the Eastern Orthodox faith. Its cobble-stoned old town with its ups and downs makes for leisurely strolls. Georgian wine is now beginning to populate the supermarkets in the West. Tbilisi is one of those towns that time forgot after Jason and the Argonauts came this way in search of the golden fleece. In recent times, Georgia became infamous for being the home of Josef Stalin, that controversial, ruthless Russian dictator. Legend has it that Stalin built a tall tower in Sochi, on the northern banks of the Black Sea, so that he could glimpse his homeland from the top whenever he was in that part of Russia. Tbilisi’s architecture reflects the conflation and the resultant confusion of Persian and Russian rule. Looming over it all are Narikala, a reconstructed 4th-century fortress, and Kartlis Deda, an iconic statue of the “Mother of Georgia.”