Blue-tiled mosaic facade of Orbeliani Baths in the Abanotubani area of the Old Town.

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Abanotubani

Tbilisi


The brick domes rising here are the roofs of subterranean bathhouses, the Abanotubani. Alexanders Dumas and Pushkin both bathed in these sulphurous waters, the latter describing it as the best bath he’d ever had. Outwardly more impressive than the others, the above-ground Chreli Abano thermal baths have a Central Asian feel to their blue-tile facade.