tskhaltubo
9/17/2025
We did a tour to Tskhaltubo which is about a 20 minute drive outside of Kutaisi – There are parts of the town that are still “alive”, but a large portion is basically a soviet era ghost town known for ornate huge abandon soviet era spas and resorts.
The town’s history centers on its medicinal hot springs from the 7th-9th centuries which later developed into a major spa resort by the Soviet Union in the 1930s for the communist elite.
Joseph Stalin (who, by the way, was from Georgia) visited in the early 1930s for leg pain, which greatly boosted the town's development. And after World War II, the town became a premier spa destination for the Soviet elite. It featured numerous sanatoriums, baths, resorts, and a large park, hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the collapse of the spa industry and the buildings were abandoned. Many of the abandon buildings were used as temporary “housing” for refugees, with some remaining there for generations (homeless squatters).
We got to poke all around these abandoned buildings. It was fascinating! I kept thinking what a shame it was that all this history and beauty was just left to fall apart… and how much my mom would have loved this!
This spa is shaped like a spaceship because it was designed for the Russian cosmonauts to receive treatment! Our guide showed us a photo of what it looked like back in the day. And, of course, we got to tromp around in the remains with all the dogs now residing there. We managed to get photos without the local resident dogs, but it wasn’t easy!
This is a children’s playground outside a fancy resort.
This one was a train station. They attempted to restore it, but only did a bit of the exterior before they gave up.
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