Geological feature · Goderdzi, Khulo Municipality, Adjara
Goderdzi Petrified Forest
გოდერძის ნამარხი ტყე · Goderdzi Petrified Forest Natural Monument
A protected fossil site near the Goderdzi Pass where grey volcanic tuff preserves prints of Late Pliocene leaves and stems, among them palm, magnolia and laurel.
Where it is
41.6452, 42.5055
Why go
The Agency of Protected Areas protects this Pliocene fossil flora at three separate locations between 1,600 and 2,100 metres, on the border of Khulo and Adigeni municipalities. In exposed volcanic layers of the Neogene, plant remains of the Late Pliocene, including palm, magnolia, laurel, birch, hornbeam and beech, are preserved as prints of semi-fossilised leaves and stems in grey volcanic tuff. The agency's reference point is the spot nearest the road, beside the Batumi–Akhaltsikhe road near the Goderdzi Pass, about 120 km from Batumi. No visitor path or on-site interpretation is documented, and the agency directs visitor enquiries to the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park visitor service. It rewards visitors interested in reading rocks more than casual sightseers.
Near Goderdzi Petrified Forest
Lake
Green Lake (Mtsvane Tba)
A spring-fed mountain lake at 2,058 metres in forest six kilometres from Goderdzi Pass in Khulo municipality, up to 19.4 metres deep and coloured green by the woods around it.
3 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Zarzma Monastery
A monastery in the Kvabliani valley of Samtskhe-Javakheti, named after its founder Serapion Zarzmeli, whose present church and bell tower date from the early 14th century.
13 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Skhalta Monastery
A medieval hall church of dressed stone on the right bank of the Skhalta River in upper Adjara, with a seven-sided apse and fragments of late-medieval frescoes inside.
16 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Fortress
Okros Tsikhe
A medieval fortress of the Jaqeli princes on a high rocky height above the Kvabliani valley in Adigeni Municipality, its walls of roughly trimmed stone blocks stepping down the ridge on both flanks.
22 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ