Funeral services in Rustavi - a Tbilisi funeral home crew in Old and New Rustavi, around the clock

A city in the Kura valley, twenty kilometres from the capital

Rustavi is a self-governing city in Kvemo Kartli, south-east of Tbilisi. It was granted city status in 1948 and owes its growth to the steelworks built there in Soviet times. The two cities are about twenty kilometres apart, and our drivers know that road by heart.

From Tbilisi the crew heads south through Ponichala onto the highway towards Rustavi. It is the same main road that continues on to the Red Bridge and the border with Azerbaijan. Traffic in the centre of the capital barely holds us up: once we leave our base, most of the journey is on a wide road out of town.

Old Rustavi, New Rustavi and the numbered neighbourhoods

The Kura (Mtkvari) divides the city in two. Old Rustavi was built in the years the city was founded, in the Stalinist style, and its apartment buildings have massive walls and relatively roomy stairwells. New Rustavi is built up with later Soviet tower blocks, and an address there often comes down to a pair of numbers - the neighbourhood (mikrorayon) and the block - with hardly anyone remembering the street: the seventh, the eighth, the sixteenth, the seventeenth and so on.

On the phone, the operator first checks which bank of the river and which neighbourhood you mean, and only then asks for the block, entrance and floor. If there is a clear landmark nearby - a school, a market or a bus stop - mention it too: at night, among identical blocks, it cuts several minutes off the search for the right entrance.

In recent years new high-rises and estates of private houses have appeared around the city. The access roads to some of them are still unfinished, so before setting off the driver will ask which side is easier to drive in from.

Type of building and carrying out the coffin

Stalin-era buildings in Old Rustavi

A wide stairwell makes it easier to carry a coffin, but these low older buildings often have no lift at all. Four or six of our people come, and if the coffin is heavy we plan in advance the landings between floors where we can pause.

Tower blocks in New Rustavi

The tall blocks do have lifts, but the car is often narrow, a coffin will not fit in lying flat, and in some buildings the lift does not work at all. Then we carry it down the stairs, and the crew leader asks about the floor and the state of the lift during the call, so enough people are sent.

Private houses with a yard

On the outlying streets and in the neighbouring settlements, many families live in one- or two-storey houses with a gate and a yard. Carrying the coffin out is rarely a problem here, but the yard has to be set up: a tent, chairs, lighting and space for the hearse to drive in.

One hour from the call to your door

Our base is in Tbilisi, and the crew gets to Rustavi in about an hour. At night and early in the morning the drive is usually shorter, and in the evening rush hour the driver warns the family in advance if he is running a few minutes late. We take calls around the clock, including weekends and public holidays.

The crew brings everything needed for the first night: preparation supplies, a stretcher and, if the family asked for one on the phone, a refrigerated coffin. Rustavi residents do not have to wait for a second vehicle.

Rustavi prices: Tbilisi rates, journey free

We serve Rustavi exactly as we serve any district of the capital. The hearse costs from 150 GEL, and that figure does not go up because the crew is driving out from Tbilisi. The same rule applies when the deceased is taken from Rustavi to a Tbilisi cemetery or hall.

Beyond the city limits, in the villages of Kvemo Kartli or Kakheti, we charge by distance: 1.5 GEL per kilometre, counting the journey both ways. We give the exact amount as soon as we hear the name of the village, before the family has to decide anything.

A farewell in the flat or in the yard

Rustavi has no funeral hall run by us. Our nearest hall is in Tbilisi, towards Isani and Samgori, and it is chosen by families whose guests will mostly come from the capital. Most Rustavi families say goodbye at home: in the largest room of the flat or in a private house, receiving mourners in their block's courtyard or on their own plot.

If the farewell is in the flat, the crew prepares the room, moves furniture with the owners' permission and positions the coffin so it is easy to carry out through the door. Hosting guests in a shared block courtyard is something we agree with the neighbours beforehand.

A refrigerated coffin for a farewell of several days

When the family is waiting two or three days for relatives to arrive, we install a refrigerated coffin to preserve the body, at 80 GEL per day. Summer heat on the Kvemo Kartli plain is intense, and at that time of year it is practically impossible to manage without one. It runs off the ordinary mains, and if the voltage in your building often jumps, please let us know in advance.

Tent and furniture for the yard

Whether the yard belongs to a private house or a tower block, guests are sheltered from sun and rain by a funeral tent costing from 250 GEL. Our crew puts it up and takes it down. If the memorial table is laid in the yard as well, we bring tables and chairs: a set for ten people costs 60 GEL, and we deliver it on the same trip as the tent.

Burial in Rustavi, in Tbilisi or in a village

Rustavi families usually choose between three options. Some bury their loved ones at the city cemetery, and then we check the plot and fee according to the local rules. Many have a family grave in Tbilisi, where the older generation lived or is buried, and the procession goes back to the capital along the same road through Ponichala. The third common choice is the home village.

Digging a fresh grave is priced from 400 GEL. If there is already a family grave, the coordinator checks the rules for opening it on your behalf. Managing the whole process, including grave diggers and transport, is part of our funeral arrangement service.

A home village in Kvemo Kartli or Kakheti

In Soviet times Rustavi was settled by people from every corner of Georgia, and many families still keep a link with the village where their ancestors rest. Most often that is in Kvemo Kartli or Kakheti, sometimes in a more distant region. In such cases we provide regional transport of the deceased in a hearse with a refrigerated compartment.

Getting from Rustavi to Kakheti does not always mean going through Tbilisi, and the driver chooses the route together with the family the evening before. Who gets a plot in a village cemetery is often decided by local residents, and the coordinator contacts them in advance on the family's behalf.

Families of different traditions

In Rustavi and its surroundings, Azerbaijani, Armenian and other families live alongside Georgians, and every community has its own funeral rite. Our crew asks about the family's faith and follows it. For example, when arranging a Muslim funeral we keep in mind that the burial should take place as soon as possible, the ritual washing is carried out according to the rules of the family or community, and arrangements with a cleric are made if the relatives wish.

Documents and the Rustavi Public Service Hall

Rustavi has its own Public Service Hall, which locals also call the House of Justice, so there is no need to travel to Tbilisi to register a death. First of all you will need the doctor's medical certificate of death and the identity document of the person placing the order. With these two papers, one of our staff obtains the official death certificate on the family's behalf; it is then shown at the cemetery and, if needed, at a bank or another institution.

The memorial meal at home or in a Rustavi restaurant

At a private house, relatives and neighbours often cook for the memorial table (the Georgian "kelekhi") themselves, while we bring the tent, furniture and tableware. When the farewell takes place in a flat, families more often choose a local restaurant, so that after the cemetery a table awaits the guests right here in town. For the memorial meal we offer three menus, priced at 35, 45 or 60 GEL per person.

The first hours for a Rustavi family

1. If your relative died at home, call an ambulance or the family doctor to confirm it officially.
2. Get in touch with us and give the river bank, neighbourhood, block and floor, or for a private house the street and the nearest landmark.
3. About an hour later the crew arrives, prepares the deceased and, if needed, installs the refrigerated coffin.
4. On the day of the call the coordinator sends an estimate and agrees the cemetery, the place of farewell and the memorial meal.
5. One of our staff handles the papers at the Rustavi Public Service Hall while the family stays at home.

Current prices for Rustavi residents

Sample costs: a flat in New Rustavi

Picture a family in a New Rustavi tower block: the farewell lasts three days in the flat, the memorial meal for thirty guests is held in a local restaurant with the middle menu, and the burial is at the city cemetery in a freshly dug grave.

• budget package: 1,200 GEL;
• refrigerated coffin, three days: 240 GEL;
• grave digging: from 400 GEL;
• memorial meal for thirty people on the 45 GEL menu: 1,350 GEL.

Altogether that comes to about 3,190 GEL, plus the cemetery fee. If the family lays the memorial table at home themselves, the restaurant cost disappears, though a tent and furniture may then be needed.

Useful things to tell the operator in the first conversation

The more precise the first conversation, the fewer questions are left hanging overnight. It helps the operator to know whether it is a flat or a private house, which floor and whether the lift works, where the burial is planned, the expected length of the farewell and whether the family is waiting for a relative from another city or from abroad. If you do not yet have an answer to some of these, that is perfectly fine: the coordinator will clarify the details on the spot, together with the family.

Frequently asked questions