Borjomi Mineral Water Spa

Borjomi Mineral Water Spa draws the famous bicarbonated geothermal spring water of Borjomi in the Borjomi valley of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of south-central Georgia, where the water's specific alkaline mineral composition and natural carbonation, derived from volcanic activity in the Lesser Caucasus geological system, made Borjomi water the most widely distributed and most recognisable Georgian product throughout the Soviet Union and the most exported Georgian consumer good in the twentieth century. The Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, the largest national park in the Caucasus at 85,000 hectares, surrounds the spa valley with primary Colchic forest of chestnut, hornbeam, and oak whose ecological continuity from the Tertiary period makes it one of the most ancient forest communities in Europe, its flora including over 78 endemic plant species and its fauna ranging from the Caucasian brown bear and lynx to the Caucasian red deer. Drinking directly from the public Borjomi spring fountain in the town's park, the same water that fills the distinctive green glass bottle distributed from the Baltic to Vladivostok and beloved by generations of Soviet citizens as a celebrated table water, is a small act of communion with the collective sensory memory of a hundred and fifty million people across twelve time zones.