Metravel city quest
City Kutaisi: free walking route “Quest: Georgia's Golden Age” along the sights. 8 points. Approximately 2 h 30 min. Quests and legends - straight from your
Kutaisi remembers the golden ages of ancient Colchis and of united Georgia. Their traces still shape the character of the city.
First, Colchis. Three thousand years ago the Greeks called this land the country of gold: it was here, to King Aeëtes, that Jason sailed on the Argo in search of the golden fleece, and without the local princess Medea he would never have managed it. Ancient authors called the capital of Colchis Aia, and Georgian tradition places it right here, on the banks of the Rioni. The legend had a very earthly foundation: for centuries gold prospectors in the nearby mountains spread sheepskins in gold-bearing streams, and pulled them out of the water golden.
Then, the Bagrationi. A thousand years ago King Bagrat III brought the Georgian lands together into one kingdom for the first time, and the capital of united Georgia was not Tbilisi but Kutaisi: for more than a century, until 1122, the country was ruled from here. From that era the main witness still stands above the city: Bagrati Cathedral on Ukimerioni Hill, visible from almost any point of the route. You will get there, but not right away.
Today you will walk through both golden ages: from the performers in the city garden, across the theatre square and the main bazaar of Imereti, to the river, the bridge from an old Georgian film, the Jewish quarter, and then up to a cathedral matured over a thousand years.
What to do: 1) Read the story and the task at every stop. 2) Find the place on the map and walk to it. 3) Look around and answer the question.
The route is on foot, about three and a half kilometres; almost all of it is flat, except the end, the climb to Bagrati Cathedral, an unhurried one with views. We start right in the centre, in the city garden next to Davit Aghmashenebeli Square. For the bazaar task, choose daytime trading hours. Let's go!
The route points in order — what these places are and why they are interesting. Tasks and answers stay inside the quest.
The city's golden age lives not only in royal treasures: you can hear it in song. In the Central Garden, next to the main square, stands a monument to the Ishkhneli sisters, whose performances became part of Kutaisi's musical memory.
Next to the theatre, the city's stage carries on across an ordinary bench. Sitting here are the actor Ipolite Khvichia and a boy, fascinated by what the grown-up is showing him in a raised hand.
From the theatre, head west, toward the river, and in a few minutes you'll dive into the noisiest place in the city. The Green Bazaar, also known as the central market, fills an entire block and has been the main market of Imereti for as long as the city can remember.
From the bazaar, go down to the river and head south along the bank, toward the white openwork bridge.
An optional stop, and the most “golden” one possible. A couple of steps from the White Bridge, at 18 Pushkin Street, stands the Kutaisi State Historical Museum.
An old street leads to a man who helped the Georgian literary world speak another language. By the synagogue, Boris Gaponov sits on a bench, lost in thought.
Now, up. From the Jewish quarter the way across the Rioni leads to the lanes that climb Ukimerioni Hill; the climb takes about fifteen minutes, and with every turn the cathedral will get closer and bigger.
Don't leave the cathedral right away. Walk around it to the edge of the hill, to where the slope drops away and the city opens up.
This route is part of Metravel city quests. Below are the other quests in this city and cities with quests nearby.