Eastern Georgia (country)

The Siege of Tbilisi (Georgian: თბილისის ალყა, romanized: tbilisis alq'a,Persian: محاصره و سقوط تفلیس) took place in 1795 during the fierce campaign led by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar against the Caucasus, specifically targeting the city of Tbilisi. This event occurred during the early stages of the rise of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar and the consolidation of his power.

The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; Georgian: საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, romanized: sakartvelos sabch'ota sotsialist'uri resp'ublik'a; Russian: Грузинская Советская Социалистическая Республика, romanized: Gruzinskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by Russia) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Coterminous with the present-day republic of Georgia, it was based on the traditional territory of Georgia, which had existed as a series of independent states in the Caucasus prior to the first occupation of annexation in the course of the 19th century. The Georgian SSR was formed in 1921 and subsequently incorporated in the Soviet Union in 1922. Until 1936 it was a part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, which existed as a union republic within the USSR. From November 18, 1989, the Georgian SSR declared its sovereignty over Soviet laws. The republic was renamed the Republic of Georgia on November 14, 1990, and subsequently became independent before the dissolution of the Soviet Union on April 9, 1991, whereupon each former SSR became a sovereign state. Geographically, the Georgian SSR was bordered by Turkey to the south-west and the Black Sea to the west. Within the Soviet Union it bordered the Russian SFSR to the north, the Armenian SSR to the south and the Azerbaijan SSR to the south-east.

The Caucasus Viceroyalty (pre-reform Russian: Кавказское наместничество) was Imperial Russia's administrative and political authority in the Caucasus region exercised through the offices of glavnoupravlyayushchiy (Russian: главноуправляющий) (1801–1844, 1882–1902) and namestnik (наместник) (1844–1882, 1904–1917). These two terms are commonly, but imprecisely, translated into English as viceroy, which is frequently used interchangeably with governor general. More accurately, glavnoupravljajuščij is referred to as the High Commissioner of the Caucasus, and namestnik as Viceroy. Over more than a century of the Russian rule of the Caucasus, the structure of the viceroyalty underwent a number of changes, with the addition or removal of administrative positions and redrawing of provincial divisions.

Tbilisi (English: tə-bil-EE-see, tə-BIL-iss-ee; Georgian: თბილისი [tʰbi'lisi] (listen)), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( TIF-liss), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million people. Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century AD by Vakhtang I of Iberia, and since then has served as the capital of various Georgian kingdoms and republics. Between 1801 and 1917, then part of the Russian Empire, Tiflis was the seat of the Caucasus Viceroyalty, governing both the northern and the southern parts of the Caucasus. Because of its location on the crossroads between Europe and Asia, and its proximity to the lucrative Silk Road, throughout history Tbilisi was a point of contention among various global powers. The city's location to this day ensures its position as an important transit route for energy and trade projects. Tbilisi's history is reflected in its architecture, which is a mix of medieval, neoclassical, Beaux Arts, Art Nouveau, Stalinist and the Modern structures. Historically, Tbilisi has been home to people of multiple cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, though it is overwhelmingly Eastern Orthodox Christian. Its notable tourist destinations include cathedrals Sameba and Sioni, Freedom Square, Rustaveli Avenue and Agmashenebeli Avenue, medieval Narikala Fortress, the pseudo-Moorish Opera Theater, and the Georgian National Museum. The climate in Tbilisi mostly ranges from 20 to 32 °C (68 to 90 °F) in the summer and −1 to 7 °C (30 to 45 °F) in the winter.

The Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre (Georgian: თბილისის საერთაშორისო თეატრალური ფესტივალი) is an international theatre festival in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The festival is founded by the Tbilisi Municipality through the initiative of the mayor of Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava in 2009. The Festival, one of the major international cultural events in Tbilisi, runs annually at the end of September and beginning of October. It has been a member of the European Festivals Association since 2011.

Tbilisi Open Air is an annual international music festival, with the emphasis on electronic and rock music, first held in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May, 15–17 2009. After that the festival is organized each year and is widely considered as the biggest music festival in Caucasus region. The festival mainly maintains several-day outdoor event format. As the organizers of Tbilisi Open Air clarify, the defining idea behind the festival is freedom. This is freedom from stress, clichés, social controls, freedom to create and express, freedom to experience what is valued by every single one of us as individuals.It was first held in 2009 as an alternative to the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, which Georgia was disqualified from because of the political message of their song, "We Don't Wanna Put In".

The Tiflis Uyezd (pre-reform Russian: Тифлисскій уѣздъ; Georgian: ტფილისის მაზრა) was an uezd (county) of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and then of Democratic Republic of Georgia, with its administrative center in Tiflis (Tbilisi). The area of the uyezd roughly corresponded to the contemporary Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia. The district bordered the Telavi Uyezd to the northeast, the Tianeti and Dusheti uyezds to the north, the Gori Uyezd to the northwest, the Borchaly Uyezd to the west, the Kazakh Uyezd of the Elisabethpol Governorate to the south, and the Signakh Uyezd to the east.

The Kingdom of Kartli (Georgian: ქართლის სამეფო, romanized: kartlis samepo) was a late medieval/early modern monarchy in eastern Georgia, centred on the province of Kartli, with its capital at Tbilisi. It emerged in the process of a tripartite division of the Kingdom of Georgia in 1478 and existed, with several brief intervals, until 1762 when Kartli and the neighbouring Georgian kingdom of Kakheti were merged through dynastic succession under the Kakhetian branch of the Bagrationi dynasty. Through much of this period, the kingdom was a vassal of the successive dynasties of Iran, and to a much shorter period Ottoman Empire, but enjoyed intermittent periods of greater independence, especially after 1747.

The March 1956 demonstrations (also known as the 1956 Tbilisi riots or 9 March massacre) in the Georgian SSR were a series of protests against Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization policy, which shocked Georgian supporters of Stalinist ideology. The center of the protests was the republic's capital, Tbilisi, where spontaneous rallies to mark the third anniversary of Stalin's death and to protest Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin commencing on 4 March quickly evolved into an uncontrollable mass demonstration and rioting which paralyzed the city. Soon, political demands such as the change of the central government in Moscow and calls for the independence of Georgia from the Soviet Union appeared. The local Georgian authorities, confused and demoralized, passed on the responsibility to the Soviet military. Later on 9 March, the troops deployed in the city opened fire upon the students picketing the government buildings in what the official Soviet version held was "an act of self-defense". The agitated crowds continued resistance on 10 March but were eventually dispersed by tanks. Estimates of the number of casualties range from several dozens to several hundred. In spite of prompt pacification, the 1956 events marked a turning point after which Georgian loyalty to the Soviet Union was gravely compromised and the nation's consolidation intensified. In the view of the historian Ronald Grigor Suny, "the swift and brutal response from the Soviet government illustrated starkly its inability to resolve the dilemma of how much of the Soviet system to change and how much of Stalin's authoritarianism to preserve. The government's confusion in Tbilisi was a bloody sign that reform was to be limited by the party's determination to preserve its essential monopoly of power."

Central Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Tbilisi, Georgia. Its official name between 1937 and 1953 was the Beria Dinamo Stadium which it was named in honor of Lavrentiy Beria. It was the home ground of the FC Dinamo Tbilisi until the current Boris Paichadze Stadium opened in 1976. The stadium held 35,000 spectators.

Bassiani (Georgian: ბასიანი) is a nightclub in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Founded in 2014, it is located in the building of the city's largest sports venue, the Dinamo Arena, and utilizes a disused swimming pool as the main dancefloor. It is the largest techno club in Georgia and can accommodate around 1,200 people. The club features both local and international performers and has attracted international media attention as one of Tbilisi's modern attractions.