King of Kartli who strengthened the realm against the Sasanians; tradition links him to the rise of Tbilisi.
480
Vakhtang I Gorgasali (c. 440–502) was a king of Iberia, one of Georgia's most revered rulers, a national hero and a saint of the Georgian Church.
He fought for independence from Sasanian Iran and strengthened both state and church; the establishment of the Georgian Church's autocephaly and the shift of the capital to Tbilisi are linked to his name.
By tradition it was Vakhtang who founded Tbilisi; his epithet «Gorgasali» («wolf's head») comes from the shape of his battle helmet.