Abastumani

Abastumani (Georgian: აბასთუმანი) is a small town (daba) and climatic spa in Adigeni Municipality, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgia. It is located on the southern slopes of the Meskheti Range (Lesser Caucasus), in the small river valley of Otskhe, 25 km northeast of Adigeni and 28 km west of Akhaltsikhe. As of the 2014 census, it had a population of 937. The Georgian National Astrophysical Observatory is located at Abastumani. In February 2026, the Georgian government established a 52-kilometre-diameter no-fly zone over Abastumani extending from ground to unlimited altitude, effective 16 April 2026; officially intended to protect the Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory, an RFE/RL investigation linked the closure to the private interests of Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, who has maintained a residence and extensive land holdings in the town since 2018.