Meidan Square in Tbilisi, Georgia

Meidan Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, is often the starting point for visitors to the country. It has ancient roots and modern restaurants and cafes, as well as much to see – all close by.

Meidan Square, or Meidan Bazaar, or Meidan Place, was a commercial zone, a place for traders – from medieval time to the 18th century Meidan Square has been known as Shaitan Bazaar, Tatris Moedani, Tsikhis Moedani, and Gorgasali Square. It is part of the Old City.

Here are wine cellars, souvenir stalls, art galleries, jewellry stores, religious icon stores, silver and goldsmiths, ice-cream parlours, traditional bakeries, winding streets with cafes, bars, nightclubs, and restaurants.

It is the intersection of Gorasali Street, Chardin Road, Leselidze Street (now called Kote Abkhazi Street), and the Right Bank. Meidan Square – the starting point for the Hop On-Hop Off sightseeing bus – is near the river, Metekhi Bridge, Metekhi Church, Sioni Cathedral, Anchiskhati Basilica of Saint Mary, the sulphur baths in Abanotubani, the Mosque, the Bridge of Peace, the Narikala Fortress, the aerial cable to the fortress and the statue of the Mother of Georgia, the National Botanical Garden of Georgia, and traditional Georgian buildings with balconies.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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