The Soviet Union's grandest spa resort, now abandoned — radon-mineral-bath sanatoriums swallowed by vegetation in a Georgian jungle
Tskaltubo is a small Georgian spa town 10km from Kutaisi in Imereti, centered on a cluster of thermal mineral springs (radon-carbonate waters at a constant 33–35°C) that were developed in the early Soviet period into one of the USSR's most prestigious health resort complexes. At its peak in the 1970s–80s, Tskaltubo hosted up to 125,000 Soviet visitors per year at 22 sanatoriums — massive Stalinist neoclassical buildings surrounded by subtropical park gardens, with colonnaded arcades, frescoed ceilings, and private railway connections from Moscow and Leningrad. Since 1991, most of the sanatori…
Tskaltubo's mineral springs were first analyzed in 1926, and Soviet authorities rapidly identified the site as the ideal location for a workers' health resort system — Stalin himself reportedly used the sanatoriums, and several buildings were constructed specifically for his delegations. Construction of the main sanatorium complex occurred 1926–1956 under Soviet architectural guidance, with neoclassical designs intended to express Soviet prosperity. The resort served multiple functions: genuine medical treatment (radon baths for various conditions), reward and holiday allocation for Soviet wo…