#enighui

《UrbEx Tskaltubo》

《UrbEx Tskaltubo Series》 - Sanatorium Medea

In the next few weeks, i would like to share series of abandoned sanatoriums in Tskaltubo, the soviet spa town of Georgia. Tskaltubo was famous with the medical treatment using the town healing mineral water at the bath houses/ wellness centres. In its heydays (50s-80s), there were 22 ‘Soviet neoclassicist’ sanatoriums/hotels to accommodate guests from across the USSR for their state-mandated R&R.

Joseph Stalin was one of the VVIP, with even direct trains to Tskaltubo from Moscow (now Tskaltubo railway was abandoned too).

At the fall of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the Tskaltubo’s spa industry collapsed as well. Most of the hotels and resorts closed their doors.

During the 1992/1993 Georgia-Abkhazia conflict, over 9000 of refuges (IDP) arrived Tskaltubo, occupied some of these abandoned properties.

It was supposed to be a temporary arrangement but decades later, these makeshift apartments have become their permanent homes. In 2022-2024, some of these IDP finally relocated to new living complexes as some old sanatoriums sold to new investors.

The first Sanatorium i visited from my 2022 trip was Sanatorium Medea. As we approaching the driveway, greeted by the most impressive facade with the spectacular collumns and curves arches.

《UrbEx Tskaltubo》 - Sanatorium Metalurgist