Old Tbilisi — Kala in Georgian — is the historic heart of the city: a dense maze of narrow streets, wooden-balconied houses, courtyards, and medieval churches compressed into the wedge of land between Narikala Fortress and the Mtkvari river. The architecture is a layered hybrid of Georgian, Persian, and Russian imperial styles, reflecting the city's turbulent ownership history.
The best way to explore Kala is to get lost in it. The main axis runs from the Sioni Cathedral up Shavteli Street past Anchiskhati Basilica toward the river; the lanes branching off it contain surprises — an Armenian church, a synagogue, a courtyard restaurant, a Soviet-era theatre. The wooden overhanging balconies, sometimes so close together they nearly touch across the alley, are the defining image of old Tbilisi and worth seeking out in the streets around Leselidze and Kote Apkhazi.