Akhtala ( ka, ახტალა) is a spa in the town of

Gurjaani Gurjaani ( ka, გურჯაანი) is a town in Kakheti, a region in eastern Georgia, and the seat of the Gurjaani Municipality. It is located in the Alazani River Plain, at an elevation of 415 m above sea level. Gurjaani is first recorded ...

, in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

's easternmost region of

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...

, known for its

mud bath A mud bath is a bath of mud, commonly found in areas where hot spring water can combine with volcanic ash. Mud baths have a long history that dates back thousands of years. Mud baths are conceived as public bathing spaces created in open areas ...

es of volcanic origin.

History

According to the Georgian scholar

Prince Vakhushti Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი, tr) (1696–1757) was a Georgian royal prince (''batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, '' Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and the ''G ...

'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". By the time the British diplomat

Oliver Wardrop Sir John Oliver Wardrop KBE CMG (10 October 1864 – 19 October 1948) was a British diplomat, traveller and translator, primarily known as the United Kingdom's first Chief Commissioner of Transcaucasia in Georgia, 1919–20, and also as the fo ...

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". Beginning in the 1920s, Akhtala's potential for

balneotherapy Balneotherapy ( la, balneum "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic e ...

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 The Andronikashvili ( ka, ანდრონიკაშვილები), sometimes known as Endronikashvili (ენდრონიკაშვილები), was a countly family in Georgia (country), Georgia who claimed descent from emperor ...

attempted to claim the resort, fruitlessly, as their patrimonial estate lost to the Soviet state in 1924.

References

Spa towns in Georgia (country) Populated places in Gurjaani Municipality {{Georgia-geo-stub