How to recognise Georgia in a street photo

Dropzone #2 · 28 October 2026

Tbilisi

12

How to tell

1. Georgian script inside arch: Round, looping letters with no capitals are unique to Georgia.
2. Russian plaque above gate: Cyrillic beside Georgian fits the former Soviet Caucasus, with Georgia as host country.
3. River-stone cobbles, clay tiles: Rounded cobbles and tiled roofs suggest an old Caucasus town on a hillside.

The first thing to hunt for is writing, and two kinds turn up: a Russian plaque over the gate and a line of curly script inside the fountain arch. That curly script is Georgian, which nobody else uses, so the country is settled right there. The Russian is a leftover from Soviet times and also shows up in Armenia and Azerbaijan, so don't lean on it alone. River-stone cobbles, a sagging clay-tile roof and a hillside lane all fit an old Georgian neighbourhood. With nothing pointing to a smaller town, Tbilisi is the best pin, since the capital holds about a third of the population. Carry this over: Georgian letters look like rounded loops and hooks sitting on a line, with no capital letters.

Easily confused with

• Yerevan, Armenia: Armenian letters are hooked and angular; Georgian letters are round and bubbly.
• Southern Russia: Russia rarely shows Georgian script; any Georgian letters mean Georgia.

Remember: Bubbly, rounded script with no capitals means Georgia, and Tbilisi is the safe pin.