# Mikha Khelashvili Street
- URL: https://explore-georgia.ge/en/tbilisi/saburtalo/didi-dighomi/mikha-khelashvili-street
- Type: street
- District: Saburtalo
- City: Tbilisi
- Coordinates: 41.7967, 44.7691

## Overview

**Mikha Khelashvili Street** (Georgian: მიხა ხელაშვილის ქუჩა) is a street in **Tbilisi**, in the **Saburtalo district**, in the **Didi Dighomi** area. It is named after **Mikha Khelashvili** (1900–1925), a folk poet and **National Hero of Georgia**.

On **20 December 2024** the Tbilisi City Council changed the street’s route. The name “Mikha Khelashvili Street” was given to an unnamed street next to the old one, to **Asi Atasi Motsami Street** (“Street of the Hundred Thousand Martyrs”) in Zurgovani, and to an adjacent unnamed street. The old section was renamed **Mikha Khelashvili 1st Dead End**.

## Location

As of October 2026, OpenStreetMap (OSM) still labels only the old section, about 270 m long, as “Mikha Khelashvili Street”. It lies at about 41.797° N, 44.769° E, near **Ekvtime Kheladze Street**. Asi Atasi Motsami Street is still mapped under its old name. For this reason we do not give the exact length or limits of the new street here; they are set out in the map attached to the council order.

The title of the order also mentions **the road leading to Mukhatgverdi cemetery**.

## Transport

There is no metro station near the old section of the street. Based on OSM coordinates, the closest are **Sarajishvili** (about 2.9 km) and **Guramishvili** (about 3.2 km), both in a straight line and on the left bank of the Mtkvari.

## Name and legal acts

Mikha Khelashvili Street already existed by 2017. By **order No. 155 of 28 April 2017**, the Tbilisi City Council named “an unnamed street next to Mikha Khelashvili Street” after the publisher **Ekvtime Kheladze**.

By **order No. 694 of 20 December 2024**, the council decided that: 1) an unnamed street next to Mikha Khelashvili Street, Asi Atasi Motsami Street in Zurgovani and an adjacent unnamed street would receive the name “Street of the National Hero of Georgia Mikha Khelashvili”; 2) the existing Mikha Khelashvili Street would be renamed Mikha Khelashvili 1st Dead End; 3) an unnamed dead end next to the street in point 1 would also be named Mikha Khelashvili 1st Dead End. All changes follow the attached map.

## Who was Mikha Khelashvili

According to Georgian Wikipedia, **Mikheil (Mikha) Khelashvili** was born on 25 January 1900 in the village of **Akhadi** in Pshavi. He died on 25 January 1925 in Chargali and is buried in the village cemetery there. He was a **folk poet**, a participant in the anti-Soviet partisan movement of the 1920s and a member of Kakutsa Cholokashvili’s “Band of Sworn Men” (*Shepitsulebi*). In 1922–1924 he took part in the armed uprisings against the Soviet regime in Pshavi and Khevsureti. Sources describe the circumstances of his death differently.

His best-known poem is **“Lekso amogtkom okhero”**, which spread orally in the highlands of eastern Georgia. A study held in the TSU repository notes that his poems were written mainly in the Pshavi dialect. In the Soviet period his verses were printed in folk-poetry anthologies without his name. On **9 April 2022** President Salome Zourabichvili awarded him the title of **National Hero of Georgia**.

## FAQ

**1) Where is Mikha Khelashvili Street?**
In Tbilisi, in the Saburtalo district, in the Didi Dighomi area. Under the 2024 order the street also runs through the territory of Zurgovani.

**2) Who is the street named after?**
Mikha (Mikheil) Khelashvili (1900–1925), a folk poet and National Hero of Georgia. This is stated directly in Tbilisi City Council order No. 694 of 20 December 2024.

**3) What changed in 2024?**
The name “Mikha Khelashvili Street” was given to an unnamed street next to the old street, to Asi Atasi Motsami Street in Zurgovani and to an adjacent unnamed street. The old Mikha Khelashvili Street was renamed Mikha Khelashvili 1st Dead End.

**4) Who was Mikha Khelashvili?**
A folk poet from Pshavi, born in 1900 in the village of Akhadi. In 1922–1924 he took part in the armed uprisings against the Soviet regime led by Kakutsa Cholokashvili. He died in 1925 at the age of 25.

**5) Which poem is he known for?**
“Lekso amogtkom okhero”, which spread orally in the highlands of eastern Georgia.

**6) When was he named a National Hero?**
According to Georgian Wikipedia, on 9 April 2022, by President Salome Zourabichvili.

**7) Which streets are nearby?**
For example, Ekvtime Kheladze Street: in 2017 an unnamed street next to Mikha Khelashvili Street was named after the publisher Ekvtime Kheladze.

**8) What is the nearest metro station?**
From the old section, Sarajishvili is about 2.9 km and Guramishvili about 3.2 km away in a straight line.

## Sources

- [Tbilisi City Council order No. 694 of 20 December 2024 naming Mikha Khelashvili Street after the National Hero of Georgia — Legislative Herald of Georgia (in Georgian)](https://matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/6363705)
- [Tbilisi City Council order No. 155 of 28 April 2017 naming a street next to Mikha Khelashvili Street after Ekvtime Kheladze — Legislative Herald of Georgia (in Georgian)](https://matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/3664181)
- [Mikha Khelashvili — Georgian Wikipedia](https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/მიხა_ხელაშვილი)
- [Mikha Khelashvili’s “Lekso Amogtkom” and its folklore roots — TSU digital repository](https://dspace.tsu.ge/handle/123456789/1205)
- [Mikha Khelashvili, folk poet (1900–1925), photograph — National Library of Georgia, Iverieli](https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/handle/1234/231505)
- [Mikha Khelashvili Street — OpenStreetMap (geometry of the old section; metro station locations)](https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/75377746)

## This page in other languages

- [Georgian](https://explore-georgia.ge/ka/tbilisi/saburtalo/didi-dighomi/mikha-khelashvili-street)
- [Russian](https://explore-georgia.ge/ru/tbilisi/saburtalo/didi-dighomi/mikha-khelashvili-street)