Lake · Kobuleti Municipality, Adjara
Tbikeli Lake
ტბიყელი
An oval mountain lake at 1,900–2,000 metres in the Kintrishi Protected Areas of Kobuleti municipality, home to the Red-Listed Caucasian newt and reached only on foot or horseback.
Where it is
41.7713, 42.0911
Why go
Tbikeli is seven to eight metres deep, fed by rain, snowmelt and groundwater, and snow and ice cover it through winter. The route is as much the point as the lake: the protected-areas trail from the Tskhemvani visitor shelter runs 37 kilometres over two days through the villages of Didvake and Khino, past relict yew trees and the ruins of Khinotsminda church, while GNTA describes a fourteen-kilometre hike or horse ride from Khinotsminda. It is for walkers prepared to spend a night out; the shelter sleeps six.
Getting there
Reached only by hiking or horseback: a 37 km, two-day protected-area trail, or about 14 km from Khinotsminda
Near Tbikeli Lake
Monastery
Shemokmedi Monastery
A walled monastery beside the Bzhuzhi River in the Guria village of Shemokmedi, where Prince Vakhtang I Gurieli built the domed 'Zarzma' church in the 16th century for the Transfiguration icon brought from Zarzma Monastery.
15 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Museum
Ozurgeti History Museum
The regional history and ethnography museum of Guria in Ozurgeti, holding finds from the ruined ancient city of Vashnari alongside Colchian Bronze Age tools and ancient coinage.
18 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Waterfall
Merisi Waterfall
A waterfall between forested cliffs at Merisi village in the Keda highlands of Adjara, a short walk from the end of the paved road and fitted with stairs, handrails and a pool below.
23 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.
29 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ