Kutaisi Old Town

Along the banks of the river that runs through the city, a quarter of old balconied houses, leafy squares, and a famous bridge makes up the historic heart of Kutaisi, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. This is the old town, the lived-in centre of a city far older than its quiet streets first suggest.

Kutaisi is ancient. It was a capital of the old western Georgian kingdom of Colchis, the land the Greeks tied to the myth of the golden fleece, and later a royal capital of the medieval Georgian kingdom, so its roots run back thousands of years even where the buildings are more recent.

The old town today is a low-rise quarter of nineteenth-century and older houses, many with the carved wooden balconies typical of the region, lining streets that slope down toward the river. It is faded, green, and human in scale, a contrast to the grand monuments on the hills above.

At its heart lies the central square, with a gilded fountain whose figures are copied from ancient treasures dug from the region, tying the modern city back to its Colchian past in shining bronze.

The river runs through the middle of it all, crossed by the old White Bridge, and the banks, the bridges, and the riverside paths are the natural spine of a wander through the quarter.

The market is part of the life of the old town, a busy, colourful place where the produce of the fertile Imereti region, fruit, cheese, spices, and the local specialities, is piled high, and where the everyday life of the city is on full display.

Among the houses stand churches and an old synagogue quarter, a reminder that Kutaisi was long home to a significant Jewish community as well as its Christian majority, one of the layers that give the old town its character.

The quarter is best explored slowly on foot, with no fixed plan, letting the sloping streets, the balconies, the squares, and the river lead you. It is a place for atmosphere and daily life rather than a checklist of sights.

Above the old town rise the hill of the great cathedral and, beyond, the monasteries in the hills, so the historic centre sits within easy reach of the city's grandest monuments, the low town and the high holy places together.

Kutaisi has a relaxed, unhurried feel compared with the capital, and the old town is where that comes through most strongly, in its cafes, its markets, and its quiet riverside streets.

A few practical notes. The old town is free to wander and compact enough to cross on foot; come hungry for the market and the local food, and use the river and the White Bridge to orient yourself. It pairs with the cathedral and monasteries above.

Wander the sloping streets down to the river, cross the old bridge, and sit a while by the water in one of the oldest cities on earth, and Kutaisi's long, quiet history settles around you. When you climb back up toward the cathedral, the old town spreads out below along its river.