Spa Resort, Tskaltubo, Georgia

Posted on 10/08/2024 by Michael

Spa Resort, Tskaltubo – 06

Spa Resort, Tskaltubo, Georgia

Tskaltubo’s a strange place. The village itself is, to say the least, nondescript and if it had any purpose at all in the past it was to serve the resort hotels and spa complexes which were built on top of the hot springs and the (foul-smelling) curative mud.

All the hotels and spas are either close to or inside a huge park that is (very roughly) 2 kilometres long and about 500 metres wide (at it’s greatest) with a north-south orientation. When this place was at its busiest there must have been thousands of people here and would have resembled the holiday resorts on the Costas in Spain. Walking around the, now mostly abandoned, hotels you come across corridors going off corridors with rooms on either side. Although all of them have large restaurants they would have been unable to cope with all the residents at the same time so there must have been a very strict and organised rota at meal times.

In a previous post, Tskaltubo’s abandoned Spas, Springs and Sanatoria, I attempted to give the background of this area and a feeling of the abandoned faculties which would have had many happy memories, I’m sure, for thousands of Soviet citizens.

Information is somewhat contradictory but what is almost certain is that the heyday of the area would have been from the 1960s to the end of the 1980s – and I imagine the crash would have been as sudden as the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. The whole infrastructure which would have moved so many people back and forth from the Soviet Union to Georgia would have fallen apart; the people had too much of an uncertain future to consider going on holiday; money quickly became scarce; and Georgian nationalists would not have been that welcoming when they saw the weakness of the once powerful Socialist entity.

Spa Resort, Tskaltubo – 01

But if citizens from the rest of the Soviet Union lost a favoured holiday destination the Georgians didn’t benefit. Many of them would have lost their jobs overnight. And this wouldn’t have been just those who worked directly in contact with the visitors in the hotels and the spa complexes. A whole host of ancillary jobs would have gone as well in the greater Kutaisi area.

For example, there used to be a railway station (close to which is now the Tourist Information Office) and at the bottom of the park, on the exit road leading to Kutaisi, there was a not insignificant hospital. The latter would have served not only the visitors (with so many statistically there would have been a number of accidents and emergencies) but those locals who worked in the resort, many of whom I imagine lived in the apartment blocks and houses to the east of the main road to Kutaisi.

Recently there’s been renovation of some of the spas (especially Spring No. 6, which houses Stalin’s ‘private bath house’) but many of the accommodation blocks have been (partly) taken over by refugees from Abkhazia, who are living in disgusting slums. Although I’m sure that few in the Georgian government care about these refugees they will probably be ‘safe’ in their squatter status as there’s no way that the area will ever return to it’s illustrious past and there will never be enough money to return all the resort hotels to their former glory.

Spa Resort, Tskaltubo – 02

However, there has been major investment to restore (at least in part) probably one of the biggest hotels, if not in the number of bedrooms at least with its surrounding grounds. This is now called the Legends Spa Resort and is located to the east of the park, half way from the entrance to the resort area on the way to the village of Tskaltubo.

At the height of its popularity this must have been one of the most impressive complexes in the area. The three accommodation buildings of the complex are set along its own private road, quite high above the public road that passes on the way to the village of Tskaltubo, and is reached via two portico entrances from which wide steps lead up to a viewpoint. The trees here are now very much established but forty or so years ago, from these vantage points, the visitors would have been able to look across to the park and a walk from the hotel to the park, or even the spas, would have been a common activity for the visitors.

Although in its prime there would have been on site spa/health facilities these have still yet to be completed (if ever) and those present day visitors on an accommodation and health package get bussed to one of the restored spas in the area of the park, a few minutes away.

Of the three buildings only one has had any substantial work carried out to bring it up to present day standards (and expectations) to open as a hotel – and that only partially – and is the only building currently in use. This is the northern most of the three which has an interesting Socialist Realist bas relief frieze above the front door. I’ve read various articles suggesting that the renovation of the rest of this building is some time in the distant future.

One of the other two buildings (the one with statues above the main entrance) appears to have had some work carried out in the relatively recent past, although it definitely looked like a budget option – but this looks as if it hasn’t been used for some time. The third looked as if it had not been touched at all since the last Soviet visitor left and although not in the best of condition – and difficult to see clearly due to the sprawling vegetation – it also has a Socialist Realist frieze on the façade.

Spa Resort, Tskaltubo – 05

Only very few people were staying there when I visited at the very beginning of June 2024 but I got the impression that large groups would arrive from time to time so perhaps my stay wasn’t indicative of the occupation levels – and anyway it was still relatively early in the summer season.

Having walked around derelict and completely uninhabitable (although some people are forced to live there as they have nowhere else) ex-hotel buildings in other parts of Tskaltubo it was interesting to see what these places were like when they were such a popular destination for Soviet workers. But, as stated above, not all of this particular hotel has been fully restored – so dereliction was only just (literally) around the corner. Go up one staircase and everything is what you would expect in such a hotel but go up another and you see what a lot of work is needed to bring the whole building up to scratch.

A picture paints a thousand words so it is hoped that the slide show will provide a better idea of the whole of the complex. Here I just want to point out a few aspects which stuck out in my mind as I explored all the (sometimes) dark and dusty corridors. For someone who wants to get an idea of the place the fact that there was no restriction on where you could go was quite refreshing, so-called ‘health and safety’ – often used as an excuse to prohibit access – gone mad certainly in the UK (if not other countries in Western Europe).

Spa Resort, Tskaltubo – 04

In no particular order;

the many rooms which had been renovated but not kept immediately ready for guests but would be sorted very rapidly if a big group was to book in;
the stacks of old spa baths, very dated in their design, which had been taken out of the hotel’s own spa area but the new baths had not yet (in the summer of 2024) been fully plumbed in and the work to do so seemingly frozen for whatever reason;
the covered walkway, with metal-framed windows on either side, now (and probably originally) lines with potted plants that joined the accommodation area with the dining and entertainment area of the complex;
the large circular dining room which wasn’t in use when I was there but looking as if it wouldn’t take too much to get it ready;
the circular cinema/theatre which downstairs looked as if it could be ready for a performance at any time but in the balcony the chairs were dirty and many of them broken or missing with the walls flaking;
the light fittings that were very reminiscent of the Moscow Metro. Whereas western metros and underground systems are industrial spaces that of the Soviet transport system was ‘domestic’, there being light fittings that you would find in other public buildings in the country, which included chandeliers, all which provides a softer lighting as opposed to the harsh, functional fluorescent strips which are the norm in the west;
the cinema projection room which still houses two, late 20th century 35mm projectors, one of which still had a reel of film in place. Although not very tidy and with a few things having been taken for use elsewhere you could still imagine (with a fair stretch of the imagination) that a film could be shown tonight;

Spa Resort, Tskaltubo – 03

the ‘museum’ – which is really only a higgledy-piggledy collection of items which no one could find a present day use for but didn’t want to throw them in the skip. This includes a bust of Karl Marx and one of VI Lenin, as well as some old health awareness posters and a 1980s ‘sound system’ amongst other nick-knacks. This all in what was a small café/bar in the latter days of the Soviet resort;

Spa Resort, Tskaltubo – 07

a frieze depicting industrial workers and those in working in the countryside, as well as ‘intellectuals’ necessary for the construction of Socialism – the workers of hand and brain. The frieze above the entrance of the first building – that which is in constant use – in a very good, and restored, condition. The one over building three – the building that doesn’t seemed to have received any renovation of any kind since the building was closed – needing a bit of loving care but still in a good enough condition that you can make out the story;
remnants of the 1980s in terms of furniture, curtains, pianos, light fittings, etc. All the renovation seems to have attempted to recreate the ambiance of the past where possible;
‘Stalin’s suite’ – which is located on the first floor of the third (the least ‘luxurious’) building. As stated above there doesn’t seem to have been any work carried out in this building and for that reason is the most derelict. That is, apart from a small area on the first floor on the west side of the building. This is a small suite comprising of; a sitting room; a bedroom; a small office and a bathroom. Obviously Uncle Joe wasn’t into cooking as there are no facilities for such. This is said to have been Stalin’s residence of choice. Now whether this is true or not I cannot say. I’ve also read about a villa on the other side of the park that Stalin was supposed to have used when visiting Tskaltubo. But if we assume that it is true then what this demonstrates is how humble and undemanding a personage Comrade Stalin was. NO capitalist leader at the same time that he was the leader of the Soviet Union would have stayed in such humble circumstances – even less so now. And as with his ‘private bath house’ in Spring No. 6 it just goes to show what an unassuming man he was – a true leader of the working class.

Spa Resort, Tskaltubo – 08

Another thought I had when walking around this complex just reinforced what I was thinking when I first visited Tskaltubo. Yes, many of the buildings, both the hotels and hot springs/spas are ruins but that was due to neglect and not mindless vandalism. In various parts of this complex you get the impression that one day everyone just up and left – some being careless and not shutting the doors or windows. Come the winter or the rainy season the elements stared to make an impact and some of the wooden parquet floors were damaged. As there was no regular maintenance being carried out that meant that, over time, water started to get in through breaks in gutters or leaks in roofs thereby causing damage to ceilings and walls and wooden window frames started to rot. Lack of regular maintenance also meant that the exterior stonework started to stain and crumble.

Although there must have been some element of looting it wasn’t complete and although it might have caused long lasting damage in some circumstances it certainly wasn’t general. This was very different from what happened when things fell apart in Albania. In that country there was wholesale destruction and whereas, at least, some of the buildings in Tskaltubo could be brought back into use you can say that about remarkably few in Albania.

Whether by commission or omission I still feel that the people’s of the once Socialist Republics ended up throwing out the baby with the bath water.

Location;

Rustaveli St 23, Tskaltubo

GPS;

42.321194º N

42.604205º E

Website;

Legends Tskaltubo Spa Resort

More on the Republic of Georgia

Spring No. 6 – Tskaltubo

Posted on 30/12/2019 by Michael

Spring No 6 – Entrance

More on the Republic of Georgia

Spring No. 6 – Tskaltubo

There’s no shadow of a doubt that Spring No. 6 is the most impressive of the Soviet era bath houses in the Central Park of Tskaltubo – the spa town less than 10km from the second largest (now) city of Kutaisi. This was the particular spa Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, used to visit on regular occasions both before and after the Great Patriotic War. Up to the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s there were more than 20 spa locations and/or hotels with spa facilities in and around the central park. Fortunately, to this day – after a recent restoration (by a private company called Balneoresort) – it still stands out as a special building.

Its neoclassical frontage and the entrance hall is what makes it so special. Corinthian columns support a classic Greek inspired portico but what makes it really special is the frieze high above the entrance on the interior of the portico. By the age of Uncle Joe and the other images included in this bas relief it would indicate it was created after the Great Patriotic War when the buildings in Tskaltubo reverted from being hospitals to their original use as health spas for Soviet workers and peasants.

The ‘Welcoming Uncle Joe’ frieze

This frieze is in three parts and depicts the arrival of Joseph Stalin in the town and the welcome he is being given by either local people or other visitors, like himself, from the rest of the Soviet Union.

Spring No 6 – Welcoming Comrade Stalin

The central panel

In the central panel an avuncular Joe (in the last ten years of his life) is shown in a left profile. He is dressed in what was becoming his normal garb of a dress suit of a Marshal of the Soviet Union following his role in the defeat of the Nazi invaders, murderers and aggressors. (I accept there’s a problem with the development of ranks and medals/honours within the Red Army and would like to address this issue at some time in the future – but time is limited here.)

Over his left arm is his (again) traditional overcoat and in his left hand he holds a bouquet of flowers which have just been presented to him. He is smiling and looking towards a woman with whom he is shaking hands. She is probably part of an official welcoming committee. Whilst she shakes Joe’s right hand with hers’ she cradles a young child (can’t determine the gender) in the crook of her left arm. The child is facing us and s/he extends his/her right arm around the neck of the woman – presumably the mother. The child’s left arm is extended towards the General Secretary, thereby acting as a conduit, establishing a unity between the woman and Joe. The child is relaxed and smiling, as are the two central characters.

Between Joe and the woman, and underneath their clasped hands, is a drinking fountain – suggesting the healing quality of the local waters of Tskaltubo. On each of the two sides visible of the pillar are a face and a cup of a fountain.

Behind Comrade Stalin are two young people, a girl and a boy. She is closest to Joe and holds another, larger bouquet of flowers in her right hand. The boy, slightly further back, is carefully cradling in both his hands something that looks like a ceramic tower (perhaps to be presented to the visitor) This is, perhaps, a symbol of the town (but it’s difficult to say as it’s indistinct from ground level). The girl has her left arm behind the boy and seems to be encouraging him to come forward and meet the great leader of the working class.

Behind these two younger children is an older girl holding a large basket of fruit, at shoulder height, which she is bringing to present to the honoured visitor. The three children are in contemporary dress. i.e., late 1940s early 1950s and are in left profile.

Behind the woman and child greeting the General Secretary is a man and a woman. He seems to be dressed in more traditional clothing from Georgia and holds high another gift to the visitor from Moscow. This looks like a cornucopia of grapes, representing the grape and wine culture of the region/state. I can’ make out what the woman at the rear is bringing. She seems to be clutching a couple of items to her chest. They are in right profile and they seem to be wearing traditional peasant dress of the region.

On the wall behind Joe, and appearing in a couple of other places behind the other characters, are white/cream markings. These perhaps represent a fluttering flag but the overall impression is somewhat confusing. The more I look at it the more I get the impression it’s a disintegrating halo – which is a little disturbing if that was the intention.

Spring 6 – Welcoming Comrade Stalin – right hand panel

The right hand panel

On the right hand panel we have a continuation of the procession wanting to meet the leader. At the front is an older couple. She seems to be holding another bunch of flowers and he, much more frail and needing support, has his left on her left shoulder and in his right hand (which we can’t see) he is holding a walking stick – part of which we can see. This would seem to reference the healing claims of the spa resort.

Next is a young sailor – and I don’t really understand this reference. We are talking about only a few years after the most devastating war the country had ever had to encounter. Yet he looks young and healthy. Therefore, why is he depicted? Beside him is a very young girl, five or six, who has another bouquet of flowers but seems to be pleading with the sailor, presumably her father, for something. She is really close to him, pressing against his leg, and he has his left arm protectively resting on the top of her back.

The final individuals in this panel are a couple of newly weds. They are hand in hand and rushing to meet Stalin. He is dressed in a formal suit and she seems to be dressed in the traditional attire of a Georgian bride of the time. (Now you can’t move in present day Georgia for ‘desirable’ western style wedding dress shops – almost certainly with a price tag which inversely matches the lack of sophistication of the design.) He holds high, in his right hand the certificate of their marriage and he seems to be asking for some sort of blessing from the leader of the Communist Party. It takes a long time to eliminate these practices of getting some sort of secondary justification from a ‘superior’ entity. I don’t like the depiction of this in a Socialist Realist piece of art work but it probably represented the feeling of the time and its depiction confirms a reality without providing a way forward. In her left hand the bride is carrying what looks like a book, what and why I have no idea

Above the couple are vine stems/leaves as a sign of fertility. Yet again, another throw back to feudal superstition. As I’ve suggested in other posts on Socialist Realist Art we are still a long way from throwing off the old traditions and thinking and that comes across in the art produced – even during those few years of Socialist construction.

Spring No 6 – Welcoming Comrade Stalin – left hand panel

The left hand panel

The left hand panel contains five characters. Closest to the centre is a young, wounded Red Army man, in uniform. He has no obvious disability but he does have a walking stick in his left had to provide him with some sort of support. An interesting little bit of detail is that he has a camera on a strap over his left shoulder, his right hand under the strap at his chest with the camera resting on his right hip. This is possibly a Zenit or a Zorki, 35mm SLR, a huge number of which were produced after the Great Patriotic War.

Behind him is a young woman with her left hand on his right shoulder. She seems to be looking beyond him as if she were in a crowd of people wanting to get a glimpse of the visiting hero. Perhaps she is using his shoulder to allow her to get a slightly higher view of the proceedings. She is dressed in late 1940s clothing and her hair style is also from that period. She is also carrying a book in her right hand so a pattern seems to be developing here. Both of them are in right profile.

Behind the heads of this couple are what look like palm branches coming from above. They are similar to what we find in the central panel but there the leaves are totally chaotic, here more recognisable.

Next is an older man, dressed in contemporary 1940s semi-casual dress – he wears a tie but not a jacket. Unlike all the other characters in this story he is not looking in the direction of Uncle Joe. He is in left profile as he is looking back to others of his family who have come to greet the visitor from Moscow. His left arm is high above his head as if pointing in the direction of all the activity. He seems to be encouraging those behind him to hurry up and is pointing to where everything is happening.

His right hand is supporting the left elbow of a young girl who holds yet another large bouquet of flowers. She has her long hair tied back over the nape of her neck, her right hand on her hip and around her neck is a scarf which indicates that she is a Young Pioneer and is dressed in the uniform of the organisation. Her stance is as if she were running. In fact there is a feeling of movement in the depiction of this small family group which is completed by the presence of an older woman who is holding a banner, which is billowing out behind her, in both her hands. This presumably is the banner of the Georgian People’s Republic but any such detail is impossible to make out.

Above the heads of this last group a couple of branches of a vine come down from above, indicating the production of wine in the area.

I’m sure that many of those who enter the building are not really aware of the decoration that sits above their heads. With perhaps a few exceptions (those part of the building that have not yet had a major make-over) the only other part of the building that is interesting for its Soviet past is the main entrance hall.

The entrance hall of Spring No 6

In the renovation of the building it was fortunately decided to try to maintain the impression those thousands that had entered the building over the years would have experienced.

The impression of space;

Spring No. 6 – Entrance Hall

the high ceiling;

Spring No. 6 – Entrance Hall ceiling

the magnificent commemorative urn (more details of which will be published shortly) in the middle of the floor – with an interesting clock on the wall behind;

Spring No 6 – Commemorative Urn and clock

The tall ceramic lamp standards;

Spring No 6 – Ceramic light

and the two, small stained glass windows;

Spring No. 6 – stained glass 01

Spring No. 6 – stained glass 02

The rest of the building

Spring No 6 is a huge building and won’t be getting anything like the number of visitors that it used to receive in the heydays of the 1980s and before. On my visits there were only a handful of people and that would indicate that the renovation that has taken place would not have covered the whole of the building – there would have been no chance to make any significant return on the investment – unless it was all part of a money laundering exercise.

The ‘renovation’ I saw was basically a total destruction of the original interior and the replacement by what would be found in a new build for the same purpose. That’s a shame as I’m sure the baths and rooms used for all the other services would have been tiled and decorated in an even more ornate manner that what can be seen in the abandoned and derelict spas that lie in ruins in the Central Park and surrounds.

So far I have been able to visit one very small part of the building that has undergone minimal ‘restoration/renovation’. That was the room I was told was ‘Stalin’s private bath house’.

But it is a working spa and there are a number of treatments that can be tried. One of the reasons there are few visitors now is that, for Georgians, any visit to the spas are very much a luxury and the foreign tourists who visit the country (and could afford it) might not be prepared to spend a couple of hours getting cleansed, pummelled and covered in mud.

An introduction to some of the treatments available will appear soon.

The driveway into Spring No 6

The main entrance to Spring No 6 is part of the public Central Park in Tskaltubo and there’s no strict dividing line between where the private and public meet. However, as part of the original project of Spring no 6 a large fountain – with a statue from Georgian mythology – was included. This is also worthy of a look.

Spring No. 6 – Fountain

Location

Spring No. 6 is in the northern part of Tskaltubo’s Central Park, about a ten minute walk from the present day market in the centre of town.

GPS

42.3223

42.5989

How to get to Tskaltubo

Marshrutka number 30 leaves from its terminus on the western side of the Red Bridge, which crosses the Rioni River beside the main Kutaisi market. Closer to the market is the stop for a number of buses but you walk through that area (passing a cheap out door bar on the right) to cross the red painted iron bridge. The marshrutka will be on the left once on the other side. They leave roughly every 20 minutes. Cost GEL 1.20 (not the GEL 2 as in some guide books – although some of the drivers will take the GEL 2 and say nothing although others are honest). The price will be on a piece of paper somewhere, normally at the front of the vehicle.

Journey takes about 30 minutes to get to the centre of Tskaltubo. Once you cross the railway track (after 20 or so minutes) you are at the bottom end of Central Park. The marshrutka then follows Rustaveli Street on the eastern edge of the park passing the railway station and information office, the Municipality, Court and Police buildings, and then the entrance to the huge (now luxury 5 star) Tskaltubo Spa Resort all on the right. (The marshrutka takes the same route when going back to Kutaisi and can just be flagged down anywhere along this road.)

When you get to the northern edge of the park the road widens out and after passing the Sports Palace on the left and the now being renovated (although seemed stalled to me) huge Shakhtar Sanatorium on the right the marshrutka heads up to the main market. Get off when the bus turns right at the corner by the ugly, modern Sataplia Hotel. This is where you would look for another marshrutka if you wanted to go to the Prometheus Cave.

To get to Central Park go back along Tseretseli Street (not the road you came up), pass the mural of the telecommunication workers on your left and head down to a very wide road junction. Cross this wide expanse of tarmac towards an arch and at the open space at the top end of the park head south and pass by the right hand side of Spring No. 3. Continue south until you reach the white, side wall of Spring No. 6. The entrance is on the west side of the building.

Alternatively (if arriving by marshrutka) you could get off at the main entrance to the Tskaltubo Spa Resort and walk towards the back of Spring No. 6 through the park.