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