Little about Tbilisi Gems

XIX century Tbilisi, according to one of the journalists of that time, looked like two-faced Janus - he looked at Asia in one way and Europe in another, fascinating everyone with his color, which was reflected in his appearance and in his life. This is the period when Tbilisi and also the whole of Georgia was already involved in the process of common European development.

New customs from Europe, the establishment of new housing, etc. Changed the norms of life itself, tastes, needs, what is actually related to architecture.

It is noteworthy that in the process of this evolution, the old and the new not only confronted each other, but often merged with each other.

As a result, many peculiar, completely specific, especially "Tbilisi" types of architecture were formed in the life of Tbilisi, which we could not meet anywhere outside of Tbilisi.

The "Europeanization" of architecture, the new norms of life, first of all, influenced the architecture of the house, which fulfills the function of human household needs. In this regard, new forms, new elements are being dug in the architecture of the Tbilisi residential house, including the entrance-entrance, which becomes one of the signs of the house's respectability, its "Europeanness". Wealthy citizens aspired to European living standards, no longer satisfied with the appearance and comfort level of their former homes.

Entrances appear in Tbilisi after the 1850-60s with new types of "luxury" houses.

The entrance hall became a kind of business card of the homeowners and as a symbol of urban, bourgeois life was richly decorated with a specially decorated vestibule with the inscription SALVE on the floor, pilasters, decorative carvings, mosaics, grilles, paintings.

The richly decorated entrance-vestibule gave a particularly parade, solemn look to the Tbilisi house.

The entrance was the entrance to one or more apartments. Usually a house can have one or two entrances - one to the first floor and the other to the upper floors. The apartment of a wealthy citizen occupied the whole house or one floor. (The first floor was mostly rented). A typical apartment consisted of six or seven main rooms, with auxiliary storage rooms attached. The walls or ceilings of the rooms, like the entrance hall, were decorated with decor, paintings or wallpaper. The decor of the entrance hall was more paradoxical.

The wooden, massive entrance door was decorated with a carved plot, its upper glazed part being protected by a metal embossed or molded ornamental grille. Framuga was sometimes arranged on top of the door, and often the front of the door was decorated with lace-like, transparent ornament.

Doors or shutters were made according to the standard pattern in local workshops, although in some cases, when the door was specially ordered, it was distinguished by a rather original artistic design. Molded details, decoratively decorated handles completed the door design (unfortunately, many of them are currently missing). Had he walked through a heavy wooden door in the shadow of an apron, he would have fallen into a well-lit ceremonial space. The center of the ceiling was formed by a decorative rosette from which the chandelier was lowered. In the depths of the hall, on the first step of the staircase, a tall, decoratively decorated candelabra was usually erected, to which a lamp adorned. During the day, natural light in the hallway came from the doorway, the glazed frame, and the headlights. Framuga and lanterns were often stained with stained glass, the light of which shone on the carved ceilings or painted walls of the interior, the mosaic floor, giving a peculiar animal painting.

Many of the entrance walls were heated by large stoves whose glazed ceramic tiles were imported from Italy or France.

The inscription SALVE on the mosaic floor at the entrance invited the passer-by not only in Latin but also in other languages ​​(for example, there is an Armenian inscription in B. Akhospireli N 3). The floor was decorated with ornamental motifs, stars or geometric patterns of flowers and created the effect of a polychrome carpet. The stairs were covered with real carpet. Decorated floors are mostly a. Was performed by Andreoletti firm.

Entrances arranged in such luxuries in Tbilisi are mainly found in Sololaki, Chugureti, Mtatsminda and Vere districts. Many of them have been altered and partially filmed. However, the entrances of several houses retain their original decoration almost unchanged.

The entrance decor style is eclectic - from Pseudo-Baroque and Classicism to modernism, there may be signs of Pseudo-Renaissance, Pseudo-Baroque, Pseudoclassicism and Modern style in the same period of time and even within the same pattern. In terms of style, however, we can generally distinguish at least two types of entrances.