Bathhouse Number 8, Tskaltubo, Georgia

Bathhouse Number 8 is an abandoned spa building in the spa town of Tskaltubo, Georgia. This abandoned bathhouse was one of many facilities that were part of an extensive Soviet-era health resort in this region. This particular bathhouse, like many of the others, now lies in ruins.

I explored Bathhouse Number 8 during my 2022 visit to Georgia, photographing several of the bathhouses and sanatoriums across the town.

Tskaltubo as a Soviet health resort

Tskaltubo developed into one of the USSR’s most significant spa towns during the Soviet period. The radon-carbonate springs here were said to have therapeutic properties. The town’s location, infrastructure, and climate made it an ideal location for health-focused tourism.

Between the 1930s and 1980s, the Soviet state invested heavily in health resorts here. State-sponsored health programs send workers from across the USSR to Tskaltubo for spa treatments. Paid leave and low-cost packages meant Tskaltubo saw over 100,000 visitors annually at its peak. There were once more than twenty bathhouses, each with its own architectural design and therapeutic function.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tskaltubo’s spa infrastructure quickly fell into decline. The end of state-sponsored spa tourism and the civil unrest of the early 1990s led to the abandonment of many bathhouses and hotels.

Stepping inside the abandoned Bathhouse Number 8

Bathhouse Number 8 is a single-storey building. It was less formal than the grander spa buildings nearby, designed for communal use. The building is circular in plan, split into four segments arranged around a massive central skylight. This architectural element allows natural light to pour in from above, brightening the tiled floors and walls.

The interior is segmented into four equal sections separated by low dividing walls. These walls are decorated with stylised deer murals of deer, a decorative touch not found in the other bathhouses in Tskaltubo. The style is simple and idealised, in keeping with the public mural traditions of the time. Each of the quarters holds 28 individual baths. These are arranged in two concentric circles per segment, radiating outwards in a neat geometric pattern.