Culture, design & architecture

The domed bath district fed by natural hot sulphur water. Chreli Abano, the Colourful Bath, has stood since the 17th century; Bath No. 5 has mosaic interiors and King Erekle’s Bath a pool. Book a private room.

Walls first recorded in the 4th century and mostly rebuilt in the 16th–17th, crowning the ridge above the baths. Ride the cable car up from Rike Park.

A 161-hectare garden in a gorge below the fortress, with a waterfall under an arched bridge of 1914. Wonderful in autumn colour.

A 13th-century church on a cliff over the river, with an equestrian statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali in front.

A cathedral rebuilt many times since the 12th century, holding the grapevine cross associated with St Nino.

A leaning, storybook tower beside the marionette theatre. An angel strikes the bell on the hour, and a short puppet scene plays at 12:00 and 19:00.

A 1.5 km avenue of Parliament, the Opera, the National Gallery, the Rustaveli Theatre and the Museum of Modern Art.

The Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia on Rustaveli Avenue, the flagship of the national museum network.

The vast cathedral consecrated in 2004 on Elia Hill, about 86 m tall to the top of its cross.

Michele De Lucchi’s 150 m glass and steel footbridge of 2010, linking Rike Park with the old town. Best at dusk when it lights up.

Zurab Tsereteli’s unfinished monument of 1985: sixteen carved pillars, 30–35 m tall, on a hill above the Tbilisi Sea.