Timeline of Tbilisi

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Tbilisi, Georgia.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 13th century

• 4th C. CE – Narikala Fortress built.
• c. 517 – First Sasanian officials with the title marzban ("margrave") take up residence in Tbilisi.^[1]
• 534 CE – Anchiskhati Basilica built (approximate date).
• 6th C. – Capital of Caucasian Iberia moves to Tbilisi from Mtskheta.^[2]
• 570 – Persians in power.^[3]
• 626 – Town besieged by Greeks.^[3]
• 627 – Town sacked by Byzantine/Khazar forces.^[4]
• 639 – Sioni Cathedral built (approximate date).
• 653 – Occupation by Arab leader Khabib Ibn-Maslama.
• 736 – Arab Emirate of Tbilisi is established.
• 764 – Town sacked by Khazars.
• 828 – Town besieged by Khazars.^[3]
• 851 – Town besieged by Arabs.^[3]
• 853 – Town besieged by forces of Arab Bugha Al-Turki.
• 1029 - Svetitskhoveli Cathedral rebuilt.
• 1068 – Town sacked by forces of Seljuk Turk Alp Arslan.
• 1122 – David IV of Georgia comes to power; relocates capital to Tbilisi from Kutaisi.

13th–17th centuries

• 1226 – City sacked by forces of Khwarazmian Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu.
• 1236 – Mongols in power.
• 1251 – Cathedral of Saint George built.
• 1284 – Metekhi Church of Assumption built.
• 1329 – Catholic diocese established.^[5]
• 1366 – Plague.
• 1395 – City besieged by Timur.^[2][3]
• 1444 – City sacked by forces of Turcoman Jahan Shah.
• 1467 – Norashen Church founded.
• 1477 – Aq Qoyunlu in power.
• 1480 – Armenian Cathedral rebuilt.^[3]
• 1522 – Persians in power.
• 1655 – Khojivank church built.
• 1668 – Earthquake.

18th century

Early 18th century view of the city

• 1711 – Church of the Holy Seal built.
• 1717 – Zrkinyants St. Gevorg (church) built.
• 1727 – Upper Betlemi Church built.
• 1729 – Jigrashen Avetyats Church built (approximate date).
• 1737 – Saint Sargis Church built.
• 1753 – Church of Saint George (Kldisubani) built.
• 1756 – Saint Gevorg of Mughni Church rebuilt.
• 1775 – Church of the Red Gospel built (approximate date).
• 1778 – Krtsanis Tsiranavor Surb Astvatsatsin (church) rebuilt.
• 1788 – Kamoyants St. Gevorg (church) built.
• 1793 – Armenian school opens.^[6]
• 1795 – City sacked by forces of Persian Mohammad Khan Qajar.^[2][3]
• 1799 – Russians in power.^[3]

19th century

• 1801 – City becomes part of Russia.^[7]
• 1808 - Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin building completed.
• 1817 – Tbilisi Spiritual Seminary established.
• 1824 – Nersisyan School established.^[6]
• 1830 – Tiflis Gymnasium [ru] (school) founded.
• 1840 – Ivan Izmiryants becomes mayor.
• 1845 – Botanical Garden established.^[8]
• 1846 – National Parliamentary Library of Georgia established.^[9]
• 1848 – City becomes part of Tiflis Governorate.

Mid-19th century view of the city

• 1851 – Opera house and Dry Bridge (Tbilisi) [ka]^{[citation needed]} built.
• 1858 – Mushthaid Garden opens.
• 1866 – Droeba newspaper begins publication.
• 1867 – Caucasian Museum founded.^[2]
• 1868 – Population: 61,000.^[7]
• 1870 – Lower Bethlehemi Church built.
• 1872
  • Railway station built.
  • Mshak newspaper begins publication.^[6]
  • Alexander Nevsky Cathedral built.
• 1877 – St. Peter and St. Paul's Church completed.
• 1879 – City Assembly building remodelled.^{[citation needed]}
• 1883 – Population: 104,024.^[3]
• 1885 – Military Museum built.^[2]
• 1887 – Rustaveli Theatre completed.
• 1890 – Armenian Revolutionary Federation founded in Tiflis.^[6]
• 1894 – Supreme Court of Georgia building built.
• 1897
  • Garrison Cathedral built.^[2]
  • Population: 159,862.
• 1899 – Alexandropol-Tiflis railway begins operating.^[6]

20th century

• 1902 – Erivan-Tiflis railway begins operating.^[6]
• 1907 – 26 June: Bank robbery.^[6]
• 1909
  • Apollo Theatre (Tbilisi) [ka] opens.
  • Alexander Khatisyan becomes mayor.^[6]
• 1913 – Population: 327,800.^[10]
• 1917
  • Tiflis Governorate abolished.^[11]
  • Conservatoire and Armenian National Council of Tiflis founded.

Aerial view of the city in 1919

• 1918
  • February–May: City becomes capital of Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic.
  • May: City becomes capital of Democratic Republic of Georgia.
  • Tbilisi State University and Tbilisi Medical Institute established.
  • Benia Chkhikvishvili becomes mayor.
  • National Archives of Georgia headquartered in Tbilisi.^[12]
• 1919 – Museum of Georgia active.
• 1920 – National Art Gallery opens.
• 1921 – February: City besieged by Bolshevist Russian Red Army.^[11]
• 1922
  • City becomes capital of Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.
  • Art Academy founded.
• 1925 – FC Dinamo Tbilisi (football club) formed.
• 1927 – Tiflis Zoopark founded.^[13]
• 1928 – Georgian Politechnical Institute established.
• 1929 – Mtatsminda Pantheon (cemetery) established.
• 1930
  • Museum of Literature founded.
  • Marjanishvili Theater relocates to Tbilisi.
• 1931 – Zarya Vostoka building constructed.
• 1933 – Jewish Historic-Ethnographic Museum founded.
• 1935 – Central Stadium opens.
• 1936
  • City becomes capital of Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
  • City name changed from "Tiflis" to "Tbilisi."^[14]
• 1939
  • Rustaveli cinema opens.
  • Didube Pantheon (cemetery) established.
• 1941
  • Georgian SSR Academy of Sciences and Tbilisi Aircraft State Association established.
• 1946 – Vake Park opens.
• 1950 – Art Museum of Georgia active.
• 1951 – Donkey Bridge [ka] rebuilt.^{[citation needed]}
• 1952 – Airport and Poet's Bridge [ka]^{[citation needed]} built.
• 1953 – Didube bridge [ka] built.^{[citation needed]}
• 1956 – March: Anti-de-Stalinization demonstrations.
• 1958 – Institute of Manuscripts established.

Tbilisi in the 1960s

• 1961 – Tbilisi Sports Palace opens.
• 1965 – Tbilisi co-hosts the EuroBasket 1965.
• 1966
  • Tbilisi Metro begins operating.
  • Baratashvili Bridge constructed.
  • Open Air Museum of Ethnography founded.
• 1967 – Hotel Iveria built.
• 1970 – Saburtalo Pantheon (cemetery) established.^{[citation needed]}
• 1972 – Tbilisi TV Broadcasting Tower erected.
• 1973 - Tbilisi National Park established
• 1974 – Human Rights Defence Group formed.^[15]
• 1975
  • Tbilisi Roads Ministry Building constructed.
  • Bank of Georgia headquarters built.
• 1976 – Boris Paichadze Stadium opens.
• 1978 – April: Demonstrations about constitutional status of Georgian language.
• 1979
  • Tbilisoba begins.
  • Population: 1,052,734.
• 1980 – March: Rock music festival held.
• 1983 – Republic Square constructed.
• 1984
  • Wedding Palace built.
  • December: Gas explosion.
• 1989
  • 9 April: Anti-Soviet Demonstration quashed.^[11][16]
  • 13 April: Church of the Red Gospel destroyed.

1990s

• 1990
  • June: Aerial tramway accident.
  • Population: 1,268,000 (estimate).^[17]
• 1991
  • April: Georgia declares independence from USSR.
  • December: Conflict between pro-Gamsakhurdia and Opposition forces.
  • Georgian Academy of Agrarian Sciences founded.
  • Ordzhonikidze Square renamed "26 May Square [ka]."
• 1992
  • January: Conflict between pro-Gamsakhurdia and Opposition forces.^[16]
  • Otar Litanishvili becomes mayor.
• 1993
  • Konstantine Gabashvili becomes mayor, succeeded by Nikoloz Lekishvili.
  • Apostolic Administration of the Caucasus established and headquartered in Tbilisi.
• 1995
  • Abkhazian Regional Academy of Sciences founded.
  • Badri Shoshitaishvili becomes mayor.
• 1996 – National Parliamentary Library of Georgia headquartered in city.^[9]
• 1998
  • Vano Zodelava becomes mayor.
  • Telasi privatized.
• 2000 – Basiani choir formed.^[18]

21st century

• 2001
  • Mikheil Meskhi Stadium built.
  • TbilAviaMsheni airline based in Tbilisi.
• 2002
  • April 25: The 4.8 mb Tbilisi earthquake shook the area with a maximum MSK intensity of VII–VIII (Very strong – Damaging), causing 5–6 deaths and 52–70 injuries. Damage was estimated at $160–350 million.
  • Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing privatized.
  • Population: 1,081,679.
• 2003 – November: Rose Revolution.
• 2004
  • Holy Trinity Cathedral (Sameba) built.
  • Zurab Tchiaberashvili becomes mayor.
  • Caucasus University established.
• 2005 – Giorgi Ugulava becomes mayor.
• 2006
  • March: Protest against 2006 Russian ban of Moldovan and Georgian wines.^[16]
  • Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline in operation.
  • National Science Library (Georgia), Scouts of Tbilisi, and Museum of Soviet Occupation^[19] established.
  • Freedom Monument erected in Freedom Square.
• 2007
  • Demonstrations against Saakashvili regime.
  • Old Tbilisi raion established.
  • Free University of Tbilisi and Radio Muza [ka] founded.
• 2008 – August: Bombing by Russian Air Force during Russo-Georgian War.
• 2009
  • Demonstrations against Saakashvili regime.^[16]
  • Tbilisi Open Air (music festival), Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre, and Tbilisi Fashion Week begin.^[20]
  • April: Tbilisi hosts the 2009 European Judo Championships.
• 2010 – Bridge of Peace (pedestrian bridge) built.
• 2011 – May: Demonstration against Saakashvili regime.
• 2012
  • 13 February: Bomb attempt foiled.^[21]
  • April: Lech Kaczyński monument unveiled.^[22]
  • May: Anti-government demonstration.^[16]
  • Population: 1,473,551.
• 2013 – Tbilisi hosts the 2013 European Wrestling Championships.
• 2014 – Sister city partnership signed between Tbilisi and Lublin, Poland.^[23]

Tbilisi in 2018

• 2015
  • April: Tbilisi hosts the 2015 European Weightlifting Championships.
  • 14 June: Flooding in the Vere river results in at least 12 deaths and devastates the city's zoo.
• 2017
  • Tbilisi International Airport established.
  • June: Tbilisi hosts the 2017 European Fencing Championships.
  • September-October: Tbilisi co-hosts the 2017 Women's European Volleyball Championship.
• 2018 – 5 November: Polish Library and Polish Institute in Tbilisi opened (see also Georgia–Poland relations).^[24]
• 2022 – Tbilisi co-hosts the EuroBasket 2022.

See also

• History of Tbilisi
• Other names of Tbilisi
• List of mayors of Tbilisi
• List of museums in Tbilisi
• Timeline of Georgian history

References

1. Rapp, Stephen H. (2014). The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature. Routledge. p. 182. ISBN 978-1472425522. Sasanian marzbāns resided in Partaw from the early 460s. Officials with this title first took up residence in Tp‛ilisi around 517.
2. Baedeker 1914.
3. Britannica 1910.
4. Ring 1995.
5. "Chronology of Catholic Dioceses: Georgia". Norway: Oslo katolske bispedømme (Oslo Catholic Diocese). Retrieved 30 June 2015.
6. Rouben Paul Adalian (2010). Historical Dictionary of Armenia (2nd ed.). USA: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7450-3.
7. Murray 1868.
8. "Garden Search: Georgia". London: Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
9. "History". National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
10. "Russia: Principal Towns: Caucasia". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. 1921. hdl:2027/njp.32101072368440.
11. Thomas de Waal (2010). "Chronology". The Caucasus: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 229+. ISBN 978-0-19-974620-0.
12. Christopher Markiewicz and Nir Shafir, ed. (2014). "Central Historical Archive of Georgia". Hazine: a Guide to Researching the Middle East and Beyond.
13. Vernon N. Kisling, ed. (2000). "Zoos and Aquariums of the World (chronological list)". Zoo and Aquarium History. USA: CRC Press. p. 369+. ISBN 978-1-4200-3924-5.
14. "Tbilisi,Tiflis". Google Ngram Viewer. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
15. J. W. R. Parsons (1982). "National Integration in Soviet Georgia". Soviet Studies. 34 (4): 547–569. doi:10.1080/09668138208411444. JSTOR 151907.
16. "Georgia Profile: Timeline". BBC News. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
17. United Nations Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Statistics Division (1997). "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". 1995 Demographic Yearbook. New York. pp. 262–321. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
18. "Sacred Chants Reverberating Once Again". New York Times. 4 August 2010.
19. "Tbilisi". Georgian Museums. Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
20. "Tbilisi Fashion Week". Archived from the original on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
21. Encyclopædia Britannica Book of the Year. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2013. ISBN 978-1-62513-103-4.
22. "Popiersie i skwer Lecha Kaczyńskiego w Tbilisi". PolskieRadio24.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 31 July 2022.
23. "Tbilisi". lublin.eu (in Polish). Retrieved 31 July 2022.
24. "Wizyta polskiej delegacji i inauguracja Instytutu Polskiego w Tbilisi" (in Polish). Retrieved 31 July 2022.

This article incorporates information from the Georgian Wikipedia and German Wikipedia.

Bibliography

Published in 19th century

• H. A. S. Dearborn (1819), "Teflis", A Memoir on the Commerce and Navigation of the Black Sea, Boston: Wells & Lilly
• Vakhushti Bagrationi (1842), "Description du Karthli", Description géographique de la Géorgie (in French), S. Pétersbourg: A la typographie de l'academie
• "Tiflis". Hand-book for Travellers in Russia, Poland, and Finland (2nd ed.). London: John Murray. 1868.
• Walter B. Harris (1896), "Tiflis", From Batum to Baghdad, viâ Tiflis, Tabriz, and Persian Kurdistan, Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and Sons, OCLC 3234774

Published in 20th century

• Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch; Bealby, John Thomas (1910). "Tiflis (town)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). pp. 966–967.
• Benjamin Vincent (1910), "Tiflis", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co., hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t89g6g776 – via Hathi Trust
• William Eleroy Curtis (1911). "City of Tiflis". Around the Black Sea. New York: Hodder & Stoughton. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t3222tf2d.
• "Tiflis", Russia, Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1914, OCLC 1328163
• William Henry Beable (1919), "Tiflis", Russian Gazetteer and Guide, London: Russian Outlook
• Trudy Ring, ed. (1995). "Tbilisi". International Dictionary of Historic Places: Northern Europe. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-63944-9.

Published in 21st century

• Madlen Pilz (2011), "Tbilisi in City-Maps: Symbolic Construction of an Urban Landscape", in Tsypylma Darieva; et al. (eds.), Urban Spaces after Socialism, Frankfurt am Main: Campus, ISBN 9783593393841

External links