Abastumani

Abastumani is a small Czarist-era spa town and Soviet-built astrophysical observatory in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.

Understand
Relatively undiscovered by foreign tourists, Abastumani was a thriving spa and resort town during the last decades of the Russian czars. Today it sits quiet for most of the year waiting for the summer rush of Georgian tourists who come to breathe it's clean air and walk in the pristine forests.

Get in
Abastumani is reached by either taxi or marshutka (mini-bus) from the Akhaltsikhe bus station. The drive takes approximately 30 minutes in a taxi or around 50 minutes in the marshutka depending on how many stops it makes.

Get around
The lower town is 7 km from one end to the other and relatively flat so it is easily walkable. The observatory is 4 km above the town. To reach it you can either take a cable car which has a sporadic schedule, or walk one hour up a trail or a little longer by road.

See
There are many wooden, mostly abandoned, Czarist-era buildings to view and photograph. Visit the Czar's Bath that is now under renovation but the guard will probably let you look around. Ride up the cable car and walk around the surreal and seemingly abandoned astrophysical observatory complex. The Romanov palace complex was probably once a great site but it barely warrants the walk out of town to visit them. Of the three original buildings only one remains in its former state and lies fenced off, without any windows and is slowly deteriorating. Several years ago one building caught fire and is being rebuilt. The main house was sold to private owners who have altered the original appearance beyond recognition.

Buy
There is a small bazaar on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday from 08:00-12:30 where you can buy local products such as fresh cheese, milk, vegetable, wine, and honey.