Tbilisi Sulfur Baths

Tbilisi’s baths are very different to those in Istanbul, Budapest, or anywhere else.

The location for the city was chosen because of the natural hot springs that course underground (Tbilisi means "warm place"). Persian-Ottoman style bath houses were erected atop this geothermal playground, most of them in Abanotubani, the Old Town’s iconic sulfur bath district.

One of Tbilisi’s most recognisable neighbourhoods, Abanotubani is characterised by the brick domes that pop out of the earth like molehills. This design allows natural light to stream into the bath rooms and provides ventilation for the sulfuric steam to escape.