Newsletter – About Georgia

Rustavi

New_rustaviGeorgia is a country truly worth visiting. It is breathtakingly beautiful and offers amazing hospitality. Here is a chance to see some of its highlights and attractions. Let us begin with Rustavi where ISCR is located:

Rustavi lies around 30 km south of Tbilisi on the forested banks of the Mtkvari river amidst a landscape of hilly steppes, close to the Azerbaijan border. It was founded by Stalin in 1947 as the site for a Georgian steelworks. Up until 1990 around 115 000 inhabitants lived in Rustavi, attracted there from all over Georgia. However by 2002 around 40% of the population had emigrated abroad or to Tbilisi. The old town of Rustavi was largely designed and built by German prisoners of war, from all relevant professions including architects. This area of the town is still highly regarded today. Until recently Krupp machinery dating back to the 1930s was still in use in the steelworks. In the 1970s and 1980s a thriving and autonomous art scene developed in the town (jazz, theatre, critical art, ballet and song).

(Source: www.virtual-kaukasus.com)