Tsqaltubo

Tsqaltubo is a spa town in west-central Georgia, in the Imereti region, and is the main town of Tsqaltubo Municipality. It is known for radon-carbonate mineral springs whose natural temperature of 33 to 35 degrees Celsius lets the water be used without preheating. The springs were declared a medical spa resort in 1920, and the town gained city status in 1953. It attracted roughly 125,000 visitors a year during the Soviet era, when 22 sanatoriums in varied architectural styles were built there, some by German prisoners of war after the Second World War. It now draws only a small fraction of that traffic, with a population of about 7,378 as of January 2024.