The short answer: if you want one thing made in Georgia to take home, look at three crafts. Minankari is cloisonné enamel on silver, a technique Georgian goldsmiths have used since the early Middle Ages. Felt, hand-rolled from sheep's wool, comes from the shepherding regions, above all Tusheti. And carpets, old and new, are sold in Tbilisi shops and at the Dry Bridge flea market. Buy from the maker or a shop that tells you who made the piece, and check a few simple things before you pay.
Minankari: Georgian cloisonné enamel
What it is
In cloisonné, the craftsman bends fine gold or silver wire into a design, fixes it to a metal base, fills the little cells with coloured glass powder, and fires the piece until the glass melts into a smooth, shiny surface. In Georgia the technique is called minankari. The earliest Georgian pieces date to the 8th–9th centuries, when the technique came from Byzantium[1]. Enamel only bonds properly to gold and silver, so a genuine piece is always on a precious-metal base[2].
Where to see the masterpieces
The great example is the Khakhuli triptych, a large gilded icon of the Virgin decorated with more than 100 enamels made in Georgia and Constantinople between the 8th and 12th centuries. It is linked to King David the Builder and was kept for centuries at Gelati Monastery near Kutaisi. The monastery was robbed in 1859, much of the gold and jewellery disappeared, and the triptych only came back to Georgia, damaged, in 1923[1]. It is now held in Tbilisi by the Georgian National Museum. Our Gelati guide covers the monastery it came from.
Buying enamel
Minankari is sold all over Old Tbilisi, from street stalls to small studios where you can watch the enameller at work, and some workshops run short classes where you make your own piece. Quality varies enormously. What to check:
- The metal. Ask whether it is silver and look for a 925 mark. Painted base metal is the most common shortcut.
- The surface. Real enamel is glass: smooth and cool under your finger, with depth when you tilt it to the light. Paint or resin looks flat and feels softer.
- The wire. The partitions should be fine and even, and each cell cleanly filled.
- The maker. A good studio will tell you who made the piece and happily show you the workbench. Prices are higher than on the street, and it is worth it.
Felt: the shepherd's craft
Felt is made by layering raw wool, wetting it with soapy water and rolling and pressing it by hand until the fibres lock together. In Georgia it belongs to the regions where people herd sheep: Tusheti, Kakheti, Khevi and Javakheti[3]. The classic felt garment is the nabadi, the long, stiff shepherd's cloak that works as raincoat, blanket and bed on the summer pastures[3]. Today you are more likely to buy slippers, hats, bags and wall hangings with Tushetian patterns.
The easy place to find Tushetian felt is not Tusheti itself, which is cut off for most of the year, but the villages where Tush families spend the winter, in the Alazani valley of Kakheti. In Kvemo Alvani, the Mzemoe workshop makes felted pieces and knitwear, and in Zemo Alvani a small wool factory spins yarn and makes nabadi[4]. Some of their work is also sold through craft shops in Tbilisi[4].
Carpets
The Caucasus has a long tradition of flat-woven and knotted carpets, and Georgian weaving, with bold, high-contrast patterns, stands out among them. Tushetian weavers have a particularly strong reputation[5]. In Dedoplistskaro, in southern Kakheti, a studio weaves carpets with natural dyes and patterns taken from the plants and animals of nearby Vashlovani[4].
In Tbilisi, specialist carpet shops in the Old Town sell antique and old carpets from across the Caucasus and beyond, and the Dry Bridge flea market has old carpets and textiles among everything else, if you have time to dig[5]. Our guide to Tbilisi's markets explains how the Dry Bridge works.
Old carpets and export papers
This matters: taking cultural property out of Georgia can need an export permit, issued after the item is examined by the heritage authorities, who check that it is not a protected national treasure[6]. For a genuinely old carpet or antique, buy from a shop that can arrange the paperwork, and keep the receipt. A new handmade carpet or felt piece doesn't raise this issue, but a receipt from the maker still helps at customs.
How to buy honestly
- Buy from the person who made it when you can. More of the money stays in the village, and you learn the story behind the piece.
- Be wary of "antique" at a street stall. Most old-looking enamel and carpets in the tourist streets are new.
- Ask what it is made of. Pure wool, natural dyes, silver: a good seller answers without hesitation.
- Bargaining is normal at the flea market, less so in studios and workshops where prices are fixed.
- Pack felt flat and carpets rolled, not folded.
Crafts on a trip with us
Our private Tbilisi City Explorer walk passes through the Old Town streets where the enamel studios and carpet shops are, and your guide can build in stops at workshops rather than souvenir stalls, or finish at the Dry Bridge market on a weekend. For Tushetian felt, a day in Kakheti's Alazani valley can include Kvemo and Zemo Alvani; the Kakheti wine tour is a natural base. Tell us what you are looking for, or build your own route and we send you a private itinerary with a price. Nothing to pay now.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Khakhuli triptych": en.wikipedia.org
- My Geo Trip, "Minankari: Jewellery Art in Georgia": mygeotrip.com
- Georgia Today, "Felt: Georgia's Oldest Fabric Finds New Favor": georgiatoday.ge
- Wander-Lush, "Where to Find Tushetian and Kizikian Wool Crafts in Kakheti": wander-lush.org
- Wander-Lush, "Textile Lover's Guide to the Caucasus": wander-lush.org
- Law of Georgia on Export and Import of Cultural Property (UNESCO database): unesco.org
Last checked: September 2026. Workshops open and close, and museum displays change; check before you plan a visit around one.
