Tbilisi

Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, is home to some of the most stunning early 20th-century architectural treasures in addition to older and more contemporary structures. The majority of those Art Nouveau structures are dispersed around the city's central neighborhoods and are in critical need of repair.

This new modern architecture style was rapidly embraced by Georgian engineers and architects, who started building residential Art Nouveau buildings in 1902. The original structures are still standing today. Yet, Georgian Art Nouveau stands apart from the rest of the world because it incorporates regional and traditional features. Balcony made of wood with carvings. The Sololaki and Mtatsminda neighborhoods have the best examples of Art Nouveau architecture, but you'll need to train your eyes to see everything to avoid missing anything. They are frequently difficult to notice and in poor conditions. During the Communist Era, many buildings were whitewashed and therefore lost many details.

Besides having intricate facades, these residential houses have gorgeous hand-painted hallways. It was “fashionable” for the bourgeois family to have such entrance halls. It was a way of “showing off” back then. One such notable entrance hallway is on Tabidze 18, near Freedom Square.

Tbilisi also has beautiful Art Nouveau-style buildings housing banks, hospitals, maternity homes, a pawnshop, a greenhouse, and a library, to name a few things in addition to the private dwellings. So now might be a good time to visit Tbilisi if you've been wanting to look for lesser-known Art Nouveau buildings.

Location: Georgia