Borjomi Gorge

Carved deep into the Lesser Caucasus by the churning Mtkvari River, the Borjomi Gorge transformed in the 1830s when Imperial Russian soldiers stumbled upon its warm, subterranean springs. By the late 19th century, the chasm had evolved into an exclusive alpine sanatorium for the Romanov dynasty. Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich commissioned the Moorish-eclectic Likani Palace along its forested terraces, outfitting the residence with double-arched windows, scalloped balconies, and intricate fretwork. Deeper within the canyon, the Mineral Water Park still shelters the 1890s turquoise-and-glass dome of the Ekaterina Spring, anchored beneath soaring limestone bluffs carpeted in virgin spruce and hornbeam. Wandering along the gorge floor, travelers are engulfed by the bracing mountain air laced with pine resin and the distinct, volcanic tang of sulfur rising from geothermal vents. The persistent rush of the river accompanies the trek toward the historic pump pavilion, where you can draw warm, naturally effervescent, and mineral-heavy water directly from a source tapped over 1,500 meters beneath the earth. Further down moss-fringed stone paths, steaming open-air baths invite visitors to soak in mineral-rich pools while gazing up at the sheer emerald walls of the gorge, fully enveloped by the wild mountain geology that anchored Georgia's 19th-century spa culture.