In 1921 , the Democratic Republic of Georgia was occupied by the Soviet Bolshevik forces from Russia , and until 1936 Tbilisi functioned first as the capital city of the Transcaucasian SFSR ( which included Armenia , Azerbaijan , and Georgia ) , and afterwards until 1991 as the capital of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic . During Soviet rule , Tbilisi 's population grew significantly , the city became more industrialized , and it also came to be an important political , social , and cultural centre of the Soviet Union . In 1980 the city housed the first state-sanctioned rock festival in the USSR . As a major tourist destination for both Soviet citizens and foreign visitors , Tbilisi 's " Old Town " ( the neighborhoods within the original city walls ) was reconstructed in the 1970s and 1980s
rock festival
Tbilisi Rock Festival (1980)
Tbilisi