Gomismta

Gomismta lies at around two thousand metres on the ridges above Ozurgeti, a scatter of simple wooden houses on open alpine meadow used only in the summer months, when families and herders move up from the villages below. There is little to it beyond the huts, the grass and the view: on clear days the ground falls away west toward the Black Sea, visible as a line on the horizon, while the Caucasus stands to the north-east. Wild flowers cover the meadows in July, and walking routes run along the ridges toward Bakhmaro and into the Guria mountains. The road up is rough throughout and takes several hours from the coast.

History

After the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, the border between Turkey and Russia ran along the watershed of the Meskheti range here until 1878, the line that now divides Guria from Adjara. A local newspaper in 1902 counted about 20 small houses and a shop, and a legend tells of a shepherd who brought his daughter, ill with hay fever, up the mountain, where she was quickly healed; the healthy climate was described in the early 20th century. The road to Gomismta was built in the 1950s, when there were already about 500 cottages and 4500-5000 visitors a year, a number that doubled by 1970, and since 2010 growing tourism and ecotourism in the mountains have renewed interest in the resort after years of decline (Wikipedia, Gomismta).

Highlights

• Open alpine meadow at 2,000 metres - the ridge the settlement sits on.
• The Black Sea on the horizon - the view west on clear days.
• Summer wooden houses - the seasonal huts of herders and families.
• Ridge walking routes - the paths toward Bakhmaro and beyond.

When to go

July to September; snow closes the road for the rest of the year. A day, though the drive is long. Weather changes fast and cloud often fills the ridges.

Good to know

The road requires four-wheel-drive and takes hours. There are no shops, no fuel and no reliable phone signal. Accommodation is very basic and mostly informal. Cloud frequently removes the view entirely.

Nearby

Ozurgeti is north-west; Bakhmaro lies east along the range.

Key facts