This building houses the oldest educational institution in the city - School number 1, the former First Men's Gymnasium, which was opened in 1830. The Noble School opened in Tiflis in 1802, which was later transformed into the Noble Gymnasium, and in 1853 was renamed Gubernskaya. The first building was constructed between 1837-1839, and in 1870 - 1871 it got rebuilt by the design of Otto Simonson. The next time the building underwent a major renovation was in 1899-1900. During the so-called Tbilisi war in December 1991, the school building burned down completely and was restored a few years later with large financial assistance from the Moscow City Hall.