Abastumani

Abastumani is a resort town in Adigeni Municipality, Samtskhe-Javakheti, at 1,340 m above sea level in the pine-covered Otskhe valley. It is known for its sulphur thermal springs, three of them at temperatures between 39 and 48.5 degrees Celsius, and grew into a balneological resort at the end of the 19th century. On nearby Mount Kanobili the Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory was founded in 1932 on the initiative of academician Evgeni Kharadze. The town retains the Church of St Alexander Nevsky, built in 1899-1902, a historic bathhouse and a 14th-century Church of St George. The 2014 census recorded 937 residents; Akhaltsikhe is 28 km away.