Akhtala (Georgian: ახტალა) is a spa in the town of Gurjaani, in Georgia's easternmost region of Kakheti, known for its mud bathes of volcanic origin.
Akhtala
ახტალა | |
---|---|
Spa | |
Akhtala Location of Akhtala | |
Coordinates: 41°44′44″N 45°47′40″E / 41.74556°N 45.79444°E | |
Country | Georgia |
Region | Kakheti |
Municipality | Gurjaani |
Elevation | 412 m (1,352 ft) |
Website | akhtala.ge |
According to the Georgian scholar Prince Vakhushti's geography of Georgia, finalized in 1745, Akhtala "is said to be a former village and buried by wrath; tar is discharged, steaming, and brings on the surface spoons, jars, and peasants' commodities".[1] By the time the British diplomat Oliver Wardrop visited Georgia in 1887, Akhtala had already been used as a spa, "a muddy hollow in which are slime baths, resorted to by persons suffering from rheumatism, scrofula, and many other diseases; the baths are simply round holes full of mud, in the middle of which an evil-smelling gas slowly bubbles up; the largest bath of all is reserved for cattle".[2]
Beginning in the 1920s, Akhtala's potential for balneotherapy was studied and exploited by the Georgian Institute of Resorts and Physiotherapy. In the 1990s, the Akhtala spa became a joint stock company. In 2006, descendants of the noble family of Andronikashvili attempted to claim the resort, fruitlessly, as their patrimonial estate lost to the Soviet state in 1924.[3]