It is housed in a Soviet-era Neoclassical rotunda building built in 1939 on a hilltop overlooking Heroes' Square.
Its original big top building was destroyed in a fire in 1911 and the circus was moved to a former wine factory, before settling down, in 1939, in its present Neoclassical, Joseph Stalin-era building designed by Nikolay Neprintsev, Vladimer Urushadze, and Stepan Satunts.
The building sits on a hill on the right bank of the Kura river, near what had been the end of the Georgian Military Road at the entrance to the city in the imperial era.
[3] In 2003, the Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili bought the circus and began an extensive reconstruction, but his involvement in the 2007 political crisis and death shortly thereafter stalled the renovations.
Since then, the circus has been playing to sellout crowds, bringing together troupes and performers from various parts of the world.