Rustaveli Avenue

Rustaveli Avenue is the grand central boulevard of Tbilisi, running about 1.5 km north-west from Freedom Square. Lined with plane trees and 19th- and 20th-century public buildings, it is where the city shops, protests and celebrates. Along the way you pass the Georgian National Museum, the Parliament building, Kashveti Church, the National Gallery, the Rustaveli Theatre and the Moorish-style Opera and Ballet Theatre. Underground passages cross the busy road, and the Liberty Square and Rustaveli metro stations sit at either end.

Walking the avenue takes 20–30 minutes without stops, but most people spend half a day dipping into a museum, a gallery or a cafe. The avenue is also Georgia's main stage for political demonstrations, which gather in front of Parliament. Side streets to the south-west climb towards Mtatsminda and the lower funicular station, while those to the north-east lead down towards the river and the Dry Bridge market.

Laid out in the 19th century as Golovin Avenue, named after a Russian viceroy, the street became the showpiece of Tiflis, with the Viceroy's Palace (1868), the Rustaveli Theatre (1887), the Opera (1896) and the Caucasian Museum (1913–1917). It took its present name in 1918, after the medieval poet Shota Rustaveli. On 9 April 1989 Soviet troops attacked a pro-independence rally in front of the Government House here, killing protesters, and on 9 April 1991 Georgia's independence was declared at the same place.