Distance from Tbilisi: 165 km
Hours to drive: 2 hrs
Best time to visit: spring, summer, autumn
Borjomi is a resort town in south-central Georgia with a population of 10,546. It is one of the districts of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern part of the region in the picturesque Borjomi Gorge on the eastern edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. The town is famous for its mineral water industry (which is the number one export of Georgia), the Romanov summer palace in Likani, and the World Wide Fund for Nature-site Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Borjomi mineral water is particularly well known
Sightseeing:
The Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park - is a protected area in central Georgia, situated in the Lesser Caucasus, southwest to the nation's capital of Tbilisi. Its ecoregion is that of the Caucasus mixed forests.
One of the largest national parks in Georgia, it includes six administrative districts stretching from the resort of Borjomi to the town of Kharagauli. Together with adjacent Borjomi Nature Reserve, the total area is 851 square kilometres, i.e. more than 1 % of the total territory of Georgia. The park was founded in 1995 and officially inaugurated in 2001.
Its particular uniqueness is diversity of geographical and ecological zones, landscapes, historical monuments and rich flora and fauna. The park has rapidly developing tourist infrastructure.
Green Monastery - built between the 9th-10th centuries, the Chitakhevi Monastery of St. George (the Green Monastery) is nestled in the beautiful Borjomi valley, 13 kilometers from the town of Borjomi. The church is constructed from special stones which have a green coloring to them, with some being darker and some lighter.
Borjomi - is a brand of naturally carbonated mineral water from springs in the Borjomi Gorge of central Georgia. The artesian springs in the valley are fed by water that filters from glaciers covering the peaks of the Bakuriani mountains at altitudes of up to 2,300 m (7,500 ft). The water rises to the surface without pumping and is transported by pipes to two bottling plants in the town of Borjomi.
The Borjomi springs were discovered by the Imperial Russian military in the 1820s. They were made famous throughout the Russian Empire, making Borjomi a popular tourist destination. The history of the brand is closely associated with the Russian imperial dynasty of Romanov. By the 1890s, Borjomi was bottled in the Georgian estates of Grand Duke Mikhail of Russia. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent Soviet takeover of Georgia, the Borjomi enterprise was nationalized and the water was made into a top Soviet export.
Borjomi is exported to over 40 countries.
