The avenue starts at Freedom Square and extends for about 1.5 km in length, before it turns into an extension of Kostava Street.

Rustaveli is often considered the main thoroughfare of Tbilisi due to the numerous governmental, public, cultural, and business buildings that are located along or near the avenue.

[3] Mikhail Vorontsov, the Russian viceroy of the Caucasus, ordered the construction of the current wide avenue in the 1840s as part of a project to Europeanize the Persian-style city.

In 1918, the street received its current name in honor of medieval Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli.

[4] In November 2023, Tbilisi mayor Kakha Kaladze announced that the avenue would undergo renovation starting in 2024 and lasting about two years.

[9] The events of 9 April 1989 established that segment of Rustaveli Avenue as a spot of particular symbolic importance in Georgian culture.

[9] In 1991, the street was the epicenter of an internal conflict that led to a coup d'état against president Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the deaths of over 100 people, and the destruction of some buildings on the eastern part of the avenue.

[2] Protests against the government of president Mikheil Saakashvili, previously the leader of the Rose Revolution, were held on Rustaveli Avenue in 2007 and 2011.

Former military-historical museum "Temple of Glory"[24] 12 - Former Communications House (1932-1933, architect K. I. Solomonov)[25] is one of the examples of constructivism in Tbilisi.