Georgia · K'alak'i T'bilisi · Tbilisi
Sololaki, Tbilisi — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Sololaki is a historic central district of Tbilisi, set on the lower slopes of Sololaki Hill beneath the Narikala fortress. Its streets are lined with ornate nineteenth-century mansions, and its edges hold some of the city's principal museums and churches. Its lanes pack tightly uphill. Visitors know it as the walkable heart of old Tbilisi, within easy reach of the Georgian National Museum and the Kashveti Church.
About Sololaki
Where to stay in Sololaki
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Staying in Sololaki suits sightseeing above all. The quarter puts you within walking distance of central Tbilisi's principal museums, and its nineteenth-century houses have filled with small guesthouses and boutique hotels rather than large chains. Days here can begin at the Georgian National Museum or the National Gallery of Georgia and end with the climb to Narikala for the view.
Nights are quieter than in the bar-heavy lanes of the Old Town next door. For big chain hotels, look to the wider city.
About Sololaki
What are the main landmarks in Sololaki?
Sololaki packs its sights close together. On and just off Rustaveli Avenue stand the Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia, which houses the Museum of Soviet Occupation, along with the National Gallery of Georgia and the domed Kashveti Church. The Art Museum of Georgia sits closer to Freedom Square.
Older still are the neighbourhood's churches: the Norashen Holy Mother of God Armenian Church, the Saint Gevorg of Mughni Church, and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Above them all, the walls of Narikala crown the hill.
What is the history of Sololaki?
The oldest thing above Sololaki is Narikala, the fortress whose walls have guarded the approach to old Tbilisi since its early centuries. The neighbourhood below grew into one of the city's prosperous residential quarters during the nineteenth century, when merchants built the decorated mansions that still line its streets. Georgian, Armenian, and Russian families settled here.
Their churches survive as proof: the Norashen Holy Mother of God Armenian Church and the Saint Gevorg of Mughni Church served the Armenian community, while the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral marked the Russian presence. The Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia later gathered the nation's antiquities on the quarter's northern edge.
Where is Sololaki?
The district occupies the sloping ground between Freedom Square and the ridge of Sololaki Hill, set back from the river on the right bank of central Tbilisi. Rustaveli Avenue runs along its northern edge, and the lanes of the Old Town wrap its eastern side. Above it all stands Narikala, reached by footpaths climbing the hillside.
The walk across it is short.
Good for
More areas in Tbilisi
Updated July 2026