Tskhaltubo

a city (since 1953) in the Georgian SSR under republic jurisdiction; a balneological health resort. Situated 9 km from Kutaisi in the Tskhaltubo River valley. Railroad station. Population, 17,000(1974).

The summers in Tskhaltubo are very warm, with an average August temperature of 24°C; the winters are mild, with an average January temperature of 5°C. The annual precipitation averages about 1,400 mm. Mineral springs in the Tskhaltubo River valley extend 850 km to the northeast and are confined to alluvial sands; they originate and are enriched in tectonic fault zones of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks. The total water discharge reaches a maximum of 220 liters per sec. The springs are nitrogenous, thermal (34°–35°C), slightly radioactive (2–22 Mache units), and sulfate-hydrocarbonate-chloride calcium-magnesium acidic (pH 7.2). They also contain silicon dioxide, organic substances, and trace elements. The waters are used for baths, irrigation, and inhalation. Treatment is offered for diseases of organs of circulation, movement, and support, as well as for disorders of the gynecological and nervous systems. There are sanatoriums, bathhouses, and boarding hotels. A branch of the Research Institute of Health Resort Science and Physical Therapy of the Ministry of Public Health of the Georgian SSR is situated in the city.

Tskhaltubo has a meat and dairy combine. Other plants produce fruit punch and juice, chemicals, crystal, native stone, structural components for buildings, and clothing and related accessories. The city has an association of tea factories. A type of bleaching clay, gumbrin, is dug in the region. There is a museum of local lore.

The first plan for the resort was developed by the architect N. P. Serov between 1932 and 1940. The general plan, which was designed in 1950–51 by the architects I. Zaalishvili and V. Kedia, called for a ring-shaped layout, with a large resort park and large sanatoriums. The major sanatoriums include Druzhba (1937–40, architect S. M. Lentovskii), Tbilisi (1951, architects V. K. Oltarzhevskii and B. A. Sobolevskii), Shakhter (1951, architects M. Melegi and G. Khimshiashvili), Metallurg (1957, architects V. Kedia and I. M. Solov’eva), Imereti (1961, architects V. Meskhishvili and L. Dzhanelidze), and Geolog (1976, architects V. Kedia and F. Kufarashvili). There are also bathhouses, hotels, and private homes.