The first fortifications on this site were built as early as the IV century, during the reign of King Vardaan III, and were called Shuris-tsikhe — “Enviable Fortress.”
In the VI century, under Persian rule, it was expanded and strengthened.
The modern name, Narikala, according to one version, comes from the Persian “Narikala” (“small fortress”), and according to another, from an Old Georgian expression meaning “impregnable.”
At its foot lies the Tbilisi Botanical Garden.
The earliest mentions of the garden date back to the late XVII century, when this area hosted the garden of the Persian governors — the “Saray Garden” (‘saray’ in Persian means “palace”).
In the early XIX century, the territory was transferred to the Academy of Sciences and in 1845 was transformed into a Botanical Garden.
The garden covers more than 100 hectares.
Over 4,500 species of plants grow here, of which 300 are endemic (for comparison, at the end of the XIX century, the garden contained 1,238 species).