Sulfur Baths in Old Tbilisi
Tbilisi, Georgia
April 28, 2009
Tbilisi, Georgia
April 28, 2009
The sulfur baths in old Tbilisi may smell like rotten eggs but they feel like bliss on a cold wintry day. The price of lunch in London pub gains you use of your own personal bath for an hour complete with ante room for lounging between dips. The public bath houses are underground with natural light provided by dome windows at street level. Several are clustered around the same area, Abanotubani, in the old town where a deep sulfur spring feeds the city with naturally heated mineral water. People have been bathing here for thousands of years generating plenty of urban lore exalting the water’s medicinal powers and origin. During Tbilisi’s many tougher times they’ve served the more prosaic purpose of providing a hard-to-find hot bath for anyone who can afford one.
