Young city in the land of monasteries
Rustavi is one of the youngest cities of Georgia. The official year of Rustavi ‘s birth is 1948 when it received the city status. Before that in Gabardan steppe on the bank of the Kura river there was a settlement which emerged there due to the fact of construction of large metallurgical plant (1941. In days of the Soviet epoch Rustavi was the largest center of heavy industry, chemistry and machine-building.
Today Rustavi is the fourth largest city in Georgia . A number of industrial enterprises is still active there. Its central streets are very busy thanks to the variety of shops, restaurants and cafes. Rustavi is very green, light and cozy.
It consists of the left-bank and the right-bank parts divided by the wide Kura river. On the left bank there was an ancient city of Bostan-Kalaki . The excavations exposed the remains of walls and buildings foundations. In the 4 th – the 5 th centuries AD the fortress, the temple and the irrigation canal fed from the Kura were built on the site of the city. In the 12 th –the 13 th centuries the city prospered. Later it suffered from the devastating attacks of Mongols and actually ceased to exist.
Bolnisi Zion
Bolnisi is a suburb of Rustavi . At the distance of 8 km from the city there is Kvemo-Bolnisi settlement with the oldest in Georgia Bolnisi church (Bolnisi Zion) dated the 5th century. Read more…
David Garedzhi
25 km from Gardabani, the suburb of Rustavi , there is another original Georgian monument which equals such masterpieces of the world legacy as Vardzia rocky monastery, the cave city of Uplistsikhe , and Ushguli village – the grandiose complex of cave monasteries David Garedzhi. This monument is known all over the world for its exclusiveness and originality. Read more…
Tsugrugasheni
70 km away to the south-west of Tbilisi, not too far from the Bolnisi district, one can find a monument of the Georgian architecture of the Golden age – Tsugrugasheni church. It consists of a church and few other constructions. Read more…