6 Historic Cemeteries in Tbilisi to Visit

Six historic cemeteries in Tbilisi, Georgia where you can see sculptural headstones, and learn about the city’s past.

While I would never describe myself as a ‘Tombstone Tourist’, I do enjoy visiting a cemetery or two when I travel. Most recently, I have been lucky to see a couple of the historic cemeteries that feature on the European Cemeteries Route, including the First Cemetery in Athens, plus the Fiumei Road Graveyard in Budapest, and the Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb.

Beyond the Dark Tourism draw, I have a huge appreciation for sculptural gravestones. It’s always nice to spend time in a place of peace and reflection – a quiet moment to yourself in an otherwise busy city.

Tbilisi is no different. Historic cemeteries and pantheons are dotted across the different districts, honouring Georgian artists and writers with expressive sculptures, commemorating war heroes with solemn memorials, and acknowledging the city’s ethnic diversity.

Here are six Tbilisi cemeteries that are open to the public.

Is it OK to visit cemeteries in Georgia?

Is it culturally appropriate to visit cemeteries and photograph gravesites in Georgia? 

Cemeteries play an interesting role in Georgian culture. If you’re wondering why so many graveyards have built-in picnic tables, or why you always see plastic bottles of homemade wine standing atop graves, author Giorgi Lomsadze offers an explanation in this article.

If you happen to be visiting Georgia at Orthodox Easter, you can observe and maybe participate in these rituals yourself.

While there is definitely an emphasis on solemnity and not wanting to ‘disturbing the dead’, cemeteries are also gathering places that bring people together. Different communities have different views on this, but in my experience, most people do not mind tourists entering cemeteries. Needless to say you should behave with respect and dignity, and be mindful of other people if it is an active cemetery.

When I asked a few Georgian friends whether it would be considered inappropriate to take photos in the cemetery, their response was: ‘It’s not something I would do personally, but I have no issue with you doing it’. If you have a different perspective on this or you have experienced something to the contrary, please feel free to leave me a comment.

As you will see, some of the cemeteries on this list are in pretty bad condition, with grounds unkempt and graves desecrated. I would love to see these historic places receive the attention and care they deserve.

Located halfway up Tbilisi’s Mtatsminda Mountain and accessible by foot from Sololaki via Mama Daviti Rise, or by riding the funicular to the middle station, the Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures was established in 1929. It is the final resting place for more than 50 of Georgia’s most esteemed artists and intellectuals.

The oldest grave belongs to the Russian writer Alexander Griboyedov (1795-1829) and his wife Nino Chavchavadze (1812-1857). Find it embedded in the hillside below the main cemetery, visible as you enter from the street.

Each grave in this open-air gallery is marked with an ornate, expressive headstone that symbolises the deceased’s profession and greatest passion. Some of the almost-life-sized sculptures – including the grave of Vakhtang Chabukiani (1910-1992), which depicts the winged ballet dancer in flight (pictured below) – have a very powerful presence.

Other notable graves include that of writer-revolutionary Ilia Chavchavadze (1837-1907), whose final resting place is marked with a marble sculpture, painter Lado Gudiashvili (1896-1980), theatre director Kote Marjanishvili (1872-1933), and poets Galaktion Tabidze from Kutaisi (1891-1959), and Vazha-Pshavela from Pshavi (1861-1915). There are also some contemporary graves here, including that of the author Otar Chiladze (1933-2009).

You will see a symbolic grave for the painter Niko Pirosmani (1862-1918), who is believed to be interred in an unmarked plot in Kukia Cemetery (see #3 below), and at the far end of the pantheon, a modern sculpture that was erected in memory of the Georgian artists and writers who were murdered during the Great Purge.

As a place to wander, the Pantheon is terrific: spacious and beautifully kept, with benches and designated viewpoints that look down over a panorama of Tbilisi city. The adjoining Mamadaviti Church is also worth a look in – at the back of the chapel, along the rock wall, there is a natural spring.

On-par with Mtatsminda Pantheon in terms of significance, the Didube Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures is Tbilisi’s second necropolis for prominent citizens.

Didube has a very different (but no less impressive) setting on the residential Tsereteli Avenue, with tall concrete blocks and a public school as its backdrop. One grave here is marked with a golden statue of Saint Nino, who holds her grapevine cross up towards the colourful apartment balconies.

Originally this was a small cemetery in the yard of the still-standing Church of the Virgin Mary of Didube, a lovely baroque church. After surviving a Soviet demolition decree, the Pantheon was formally established in 1939.

The mood here is definitely more sombre – burials still take place, so you will often see mourners laying flowers purchased from the vendors at the gate. This cemetery is also more crowded and trickier to move through, but there are pathways that you can follow.

The headstones here are very enigmatic. Literary giants Lado Asatiani (1917-1943) and Paolo Iashvili (1894-1937) were both laid to rest here, along with the director Tengiz Abuladze (1924-1994), painter David Kakabadze (1889-1952), actress Nato Vachnadze (1904-1953), and many more.

My favourite grave belongs to the Telavi-born artist Elene Akhvlediani (1901-1975) – it is a 3D recreation of one of her famous Tbilisi cityscapes, with her bust in the centre.

Even the simpler graves are very beautiful, embellished with the beautifully curvaceous Georgian script.

Didube Pantheon is a short walk from the Tsereteli Metro Station.

One of the oldest burial grounds in all of Georgia, Kukia has gravestones and crypts that date back 300 years. This cemetery is located on the slopes of Mount Makhata above Chugureti, on the way to the Tbilisi Sea.

For the most part, the sloping cemetery is unkept and very overgrown – it’s a real challenge to pick through the graves, especially in spring.

Italian, French, Assyrian, Armenian, Ukrainian and Polish epitaphs can all be found in the mix. There are countless legends and myths associated with Kukia – Niko Pirosmani is said to be resting somewhere here in an unmarked grave, and Kato Svanidze, first wife of Joseph Stalin, was also interred here.

But the most iconic tombstone, nicknamed ‘Knock on Heaven’s Door’ (pictured above), belongs to one Giorgi Mirzashvili (1883-1959). Hidden deep in the garden of the dead, it depicts a human figure clinging to a portal to the afterlife beneath an hourglass whose sands have run out.

When I first visited Kukia, I was very lucky that I ran into a groundskeeper who kindly showed me the location of this grave – it would have been impossible to find otherwise! The exact location is 41°42’52.5″N 44°48’42.4″E. To find it, enter from this side gate on Norio Ascent, walk forward as far as you can (around 65 steps), and look for the rusted cross. It sits just under the cross, with its right side facing you.

You can find more beautiful old graves (many of them sadly vandalised) around the nearby Kukia Saint Nino Church.

The second ‘upper’ part of the cemetery, Zemo Kukia, is separated from the lower section by a road. At the entrance, there is a Soviet-German War Necropolis that dates to 1970.

Alongside a memorial obelisk, a statue of a single weeping widow and a rusty WWII tank, there are hundreds of uniform field stones with Cyrillic inscriptions and hammer-and-sickle insignia.

You can easily reach Kukia by bus from Central Station (Station Square).

This cemetery is of particular interest to fans of Brutalist architecture. Located on the northern outskirts of the city on the way to Mtskheta, the Mukhatgverdi Brothers’ Cemetery is an active cemetery (like Kukia), and serves as the city’s dedicated military cemetery.

The oldest part of Mukhatgverdi was constructed between 1972 and 1974. It contains a complex of buildings designed by legendary architect Viktor Jorbenadze, the same man responsible for the iconic Palace of Rituals.

The largest building with two towers was referred to as a crematorium, but it never functioned as one – cremation is not part of Georgia’s Orthodox tradition. Instead, it was used as a ceremonial hall for Soviet-sanctioned secular mourning. The architect himself is also said to be buried here.

At the entrance of Mukhatgverdi, the August War Memorial (Memorial of Fallen Heroes) comprises two pyramids with a central void, a shape repeated in the headstones held within. Buried here are victims of the 2008 August War or 5-Day War, which centred on South Ossetia (Samachablo).

You can reach the Mukhatgverdi Cemetery with microbus #469.

Located behind Sameba Cathedral, the city’s largest Orthodox Church, the Armenian Pantheon sits where two sacred Armenian sites once stood: the former Saint Astvatsatsin Church, and Khojivank Cemetery. Attesting to the size and importance of Tbilisi’s Armenian community (in 1801, Armenians made up around 75% of the city’s population), this site had more than 90,000 graves. In the 1930s, the cemetery was desecrated by the Soviets.

Many prominent artists, intellectuals and industrialists with Armenian roots are commemorated at this new memorial site, including the poet Hovhannes Tumanyan (1869-1923), and the painter Gayane Khachatryan (1942-2009). There is also a memorial pomegranate tree here for the film director Sergei Parajanov, who was born in Tbilisi in 1924. It is planted in soil from his gravesite in Yerevan, where he was buried following his death in 1990.

To find the Pantheon, exit the cathedral grounds from the north-west corner and follow the road around.

The Pantheon of Azeri Figures

The Azerbaijani Pantheon or Pantheon of Azeri Figures is located within the grounds of the National Botanical Garden in the gorge behind the sulfur baths. It upholds the legacy of Tbilisi’s historic Muslim cemetery, which was demolished in the 1950s along with its adjacent mosque.

The new Azerbaijani Pantheon was constructed in the 1970s, and contains a dozen modern memorials belonging to prominent figures, as well as old Arabic and Persian headstones salvaged from the original gravesite.

Other cemeteries in Tbilisi

Vera Cemetery

This serene hilltop cemetery has graves with extraordinarily detailed stonework. Established in 1836, many prominent Tbilisians with Armenian ancestry were buried here, including the former Mayor of Tiflis, Eremya Gevogyan Artsruni, and the tobacco mogul, Mikhail Bozarjiants. A second cemetery in Vera Park was destroyed in the 1930s. Remnants of gravestones can still be seen scattered at the side entrance.

Jewish Cemetery of Navtlughi

According to some sources, it was a placard on the front gate describing this 1897-established cemetery as ‘Russian-Jewish’ that saved it from destruction at the hands of the Soviets. Others believe it was protected because former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s grandmother is buried here. Many of the old headstones feature Star of David symbols and Hebrew engravings.