The Dry Bridge

Even if you only have a couple of days in the city, find time to visit the market at the Dry Bridge, formerly known as the Mikhailovsky Bridge. Construction on the bridge began in 1849. It was primarily built and designed by Giovanni Scudieri, but completed by the engineer Blicks in 1851. Up until the 1930s a tributary of the Kura River flowed under the bridge, creating a small island that initially belonged to the princes of Orbeliani, and later the entrepreneur Madatov. Eventually the water dried up and the island disappeared, but the bridge remained. It has become a local feature on the right bank of the river, with the former London and Grand Hotels, both fine examples of classicism, facing each other on one side of it. A few years ago there were plans to move the famous Tbilisi flea market, which is held here, but there was such an outcry that the idea was dropped. This is one of the most colourful places in the city, bustling, bohemian and original, where beautiful and artistic items sit next to the mundane on handmade counters. The flea market was saved, as it was agreed that moving it to the outskirts would stop tourists visiting and so they would miss the opportunity to gain a special insight into the city. Dinner services, crystal jugs with silver handles, bronze statuettes, elegant decorative pieces made locally or brought in from all around the North Caucasus – who could resist looking over this array in anticipation of the moment when you find something that you absolutely have to have?