What is Ortachala?
Ortachala is the riverside neighbourhood on the right bank of the Mtkvari, just downstream from the old town's sulphur baths. Once a district of gardens and summer leisure, it is now changing quickly: Soviet mid-rise blocks, the city's main intercity bus station and a hydro power plant sit beside new towers of 24 to 36 storeys rising along Vakhtang Gorgasali Street. Flats here are cheaper than in the historic core next door, and the old town is a short trip away.
Officially Ortachala belongs to Krtsanisi district. Under Tbilisi City Council's decision No 16-35, as rewritten by amendment No 8-18 of March 2022, it shares unit 12, "Kala, Ortachala", with the old town; the council draws no line between the two, so where Abanotubani ends and Ortachala begins is custom, not law. Downstream, the border with unit 13, Ponichala, is tied to a single plot at 115 Gorgasali Street. The villa area on the plain above is covered in our guide to Krtsanisi.
Map and boundaries
Ortachala lines the right bank of the Mtkvari south-east of Abanotubani, between the river and the slopes rising to the Krtsanisi plain, with the central bus station on Dimitri Gulia Street and Isani across the water.
Open the mapStreets you will meet in listings include Vakhtang Gorgasali, Bejan Kalandadze, Gulua, Ortachala, Krtsanisi and Nadikvari. On ss.ge the "Ortachala" section is wide: it also takes in Krtsanisi Street and the premium low-rise buildings on Grigol Volski Street, so filter by street before comparing prices. Krtsanisi district as a whole had 39,286 residents on 31.7 km² at the 2014 census, the fewest of the city's 10 districts; no figure exists for Ortachala alone.
Who Ortachala suits
Suits
- Buyers who want a new flat with a river view at below old-town prices.
- Commuters who travel often by intercity bus or towards Rustavi.
- Long-let investors targeting tenants who work in the centre.
Does not suit
- Anyone who needs a metro station on their side of the river.
- Buyers who want a quiet, finished neighbourhood without building sites.
- Buyers who dislike high-rise living.
From gardens to towers
Georgian reference sources explain the name as a mix of Turkish "orta", middle, and Georgian "chala", a riverside grove: it first named an island where the Mtkvari split, and in the 19th century passed to the neighbourhood on the right bank, then known for its gardens and entertainment. Old postcards titled "Ortachala gardens" survive in the National Parliamentary Library, and Niko Pirosmani's painting "Ortachala Beauties" was shown at the National Gallery's 2024 to 2025 exhibition.
The 20th century brought infrastructure. The Ortachala hydro power plant, 18 megawatts and about 74 gigawatt-hours a year, has run since 1953 according to its owner ENERGO-PRO, which bought it at auction for USD 25.3 million at the end of 2008. The central bus station was built between 1964 and 1973. The former prison, penitentiary institution No 12, was put up for auction in April 2021 with a starting price of GEL 14.08 million and reopened that August as "Alternative Cultural Space N12", a rehearsal and stage space; we found no report of what happened to the site after that.
What flats cost and rent for
No analyst publishes an Ortachala figure. Galt & Taggart and Geostat report the whole Krtsanisi district, which mixes Ortachala with old-town flats and the villas above, so listings give the better picture.
| Indicator | Figure | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| District zone, average new-flat price | USD 1,671 per m² | July 2026; USD 1,575 for 2025 as a whole |
| District zone, average rent | USD 10.8 per m² a month | July 2026, 254 sales in the month |
| District median, new flats, asking | GEL 4,465 per m² | Geostat, first quarter of 2026, 3rd of 10 districts |
| Ortachala flats on ss.ge | GEL 3,200 to 5,800 per m² | Most asking prices; Volski Street GEL 8,000 to 11,700 |
| Two-room rents on ss.ge | GEL 1,560 to 1,950 a month | Flats of 42 to 60 m² |
Examples from 21 October 2026: a 62 m² two-room flat on the 7th of 11 floors on Gorgasali Street at GEL 286,000, about GEL 4,613 per m²; a 100 m² flat on the 4th floor of a 31-storey building on the same street at GEL 503,000; a 63 m² flat on Bejan Kalandadze Street at GEL 299,000; and a 78 m² flat in a new building on Krtsanisi 1st Lane at GEL 247,000, about GEL 3,167. A 4-room 134 m² flat on Gorgasali Street asked GEL 3,380 a month in rent.
By our calculation the district zone's rent and price give a gross yield of about 7.8%, a little below the city's 8.5%, but test it against the price and rent of the specific flat. Compare districts in our page on rents by district.
The new towers
Several high-rise projects are under way on Gorgasali Street. Metropol Ortachala, by Metropol, has two buildings of 28 and 24 storeys with 704 flats at the junction of Gorgasali and Gulua streets; completion was planned for the end of 2027 at launch in 2024, while a 2026 agency note gives summer 2028. Tbilisi House's Gorgasali Tower at 32 Gorgasali Street has 180 flats, and Keystone Development's Coordinate at 73 Gorgasali Street is a 110,000 m² complex of three high-rise blocks with offices and underground parking. On the former government car park at 5 Gorgasali Lane, a 28-storey hotel and housing complex of about 70,583 m² is being built on a plot the state sold at auction for GEL 5.27 million.
So many projects at once mean years of construction, competition between flats on resale and changing views. Check the permit and stage of each building with our developer checklist, and ask what may be built in front of the windows.
Getting around
Ortachala has no metro station of its own. By our measurement, Isani and 300 Aragveli stations on Line 1 are about 1.2 and 1.3 km away in a straight line, but both are across the river, so the walk is longer. The Tbilisi Transport Company's planner lists many buses through the area, among them 101, 102, 301, 310, 331, 343 to 346, 350 and 371, and municipal minibuses such as 538 from Didube metro to the bus station and 544 to 300 Aragveli. The central bus station at 1 Dimitri Gulia Street serves domestic and international coaches.
Vakhtang Gorgasali Street, the riverside road through Kala and Ortachala towards Rustavi, carries most traffic. City Hall's four-year plan announced in 2025 includes renovation of Gorgasali Street without dates, and from 3 October 2026 part of Ortachala Street was closed for a month while Tsinanauri Street was rebuilt.
Schools, clinics and shops
- Schools. OpenStreetMap shows public schools No 65, 72 and 144 on the Ortachala bank; confirm places with the schools.
- Hospital. The private New Hospitals stands on the neighbourhood's western edge, at 12 Krtsanisi Street.
- Shops. OpenStreetMap shows Fresco and Carrefour supermarkets near Gorgasali Street.
- Parks. Jani Kalandadze park is the main green space mapped on this bank; we found no named riverside promenade.
Floods and the river
On 12 and 13 May 2012, 93 mm of rain fell in three hours and the worst damage in Tbilisi was in Ortachala, where a torrent of mud swept cars down a side street onto Gorgasali Street; five people died in the city, according to Civil Georgia. The deadly 2015 flood was on the Vere, not here. We found no published flood map of the Mtkvari for this bank. Our reading is that the 2012 damage came from run-off down the side streets rather than from the river, so on a sloping street ask about drainage and look at the ground floor and basement.
Air and noise
Krtsanisi district has no automatic air station; the nearest, in Varketili and on Aghmashenebeli Avenue, are about 4.4 and 4.5 km away by our measurement. A passive nitrogen dioxide sampler stands in the Krtsanisi garden inside Ortachala, but the city's air plan publishes its results only in a combined chart. City-wide, nitrogen dioxide averages about 40 to 45 µg/m³, at or above the national annual limit of 40. We found no noise measurements; flats facing Gorgasali Street or the bus station will hear traffic.
Letting a flat in Ortachala
Two-room flats were advertised at about GEL 1,560 to 1,950 a month. The new towers add supply quickly, and the 28-storey project on Gorgasali Lane includes a hotel of about 15,778 m², so short-stay competition may grow too. We found no short-stay figures for Ortachala itself. What long-term tenants weigh up is set out in our long-term tenants guide.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Next to the old town at lower prices | No metro on this side of the river |
| New flats with river views | Many towers rising at once |
| Central bus station and the Rustavi road | Traffic and noise on Gorgasali Street |
| Private hospital and supermarkets nearby | 2012 flash flood damage on side streets |
| Rents of GEL 1,560 to 1,950 for two rooms | No official air readings for the area |
To be added by the team: photos for the team to take: the new towers on Gorgasali Street, the river and the hydro power plant, the central bus station, a Soviet block on Kalandadze Street, Jani Kalandadze park, the former prison building and the view upstream to the old town.
Checking a flat in Ortachala step by step
Pin the street
Gorgasali, Kalandadze, Krtsanisi or Volski.
Check the permit
Storeys, stage and completion date.
Ask about the view
What may rise between you and the river.
Look at drainage
Side streets, basement and ground floor.
Time the commute
Bus or walk across the bridge to the metro.
Compare by street
Not against the district average.
Frequently asked questions
Which district is Ortachala in?
Krtsanisi district, unit 12 "Kala, Ortachala", shared with the old town.
How much does a flat in Ortachala cost?
Most asking prices on ss.ge were GEL 3,200 to 5,800 per m² on 21 October 2026.
What is the rent in Ortachala?
Two-room flats asked about GEL 1,560 to 1,950 a month.
Is there a metro in Ortachala?
No. Isani and 300 Aragveli are about 1.2 to 1.3 km away, across the river.
Where is the Ortachala bus station?
At 1 Dimitri Gulia Street; it serves domestic and international coaches.
Does Ortachala flood?
A flash flood hit it in May 2012; check drainage on sloping streets.
Which new projects are in Ortachala?
Among others, Metropol Ortachala, Gorgasali Tower and Coordinate on Gorgasali Street.
Is the Eagle Hills project in Ortachala?
No. It is in Krtsanisi forest park, beyond Ponichala.
Sources
- Tbilisi City Council decision No 16-35 on territorial units, 5 December 2014, and amendment No 8-18, 18 March 2022, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Ortachala, Georgian Wikipedia, and Ortachala gardens postcards, National Parliamentary Library of Georgia (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Pirosmani exhibition, Georgian National Museum (accessed 21 October 2026)
- ENERGO-PRO in Georgia, and Ortachala HPP sale, Renewable Energy World, 2 January 2009 (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Cultural space at the Ortachala prison, Sputnik Georgia, 9 August 2021, and former penitentiary No 12 becomes a cultural space, Interpressnews, 11 August 2021 (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Tbilisi residential real estate reports by Galt & Taggart: 2025 and July 2026 (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Residential real estate prices in Tbilisi, first quarter of 2026, 1TV, citing Geostat (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Flats for sale in Ortachala, with the rent section, ss.ge (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Projects: Metropol Ortachala, Homeis.ge, 5 September 2024; Tbilisi House, Georgia Today, 30 May 2024; Coordinate, GREA; 28-storey complex on Gorgasali Street, kalaki.ge (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Tbilisi Central Bus Station, Tbilisi Architecture Archive, and journey planner, Tbilisi Transport Company (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Infrastructure projects for the next four years, Georgia Today, 4 September 2025, and traffic restriction on Ortachala Street, GHN, 2 October 2026 (accessed 21 October 2026)
- New Hospitals, Wikipedia, and Ortachala, OpenStreetMap (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Deadly flash flood in Tbilisi, Civil Georgia, 13 May 2012 (accessed 21 October 2026)
- Air quality management plan for the Tbilisi agglomeration, 2024-2026, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (accessed 21 October 2026)
Change log
- - Area guide published from Tbilisi City Council acts, Georgian Wikipedia, the National Parliamentary Library, ENERGO-PRO, Galt & Taggart and Geostat data, ss.ge listings, developer and media reports on new projects, Tbilisi Transport Company, Civil Georgia and the air quality management plan.