natural wonder
Katskhi Pillar
A 40 m limestone monolith crowned by a tiny medieval monastery, rising surreally from the Imereti hills near Chiatura: one of Georgia's strangest roadside wonders.
25 km · about 30 min drive
AsiaGeorgiaImereti
Zestaponi
Imereti, Georgia · Asia
About Zestaponi
Zestaponi is worth a stop: 10 minutes from Shorapani, 25km from Katskhi Pillar.
Zestaponi is in Imereti, Georgia, with about 20,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is Shorapani, about 4 km away.
Zestaponi (Georgian: ზესტაფონი, romanized: zest'aponi, Georgian pronunciation: [zestʼapʰoni]), also transliterated as Zestafoni, is the administrative center of Zestaponi District in Western Georgia. Zestaponi is the center of an ancient, historical part of Georgia – Margveti, which is a part of Imereti province.Read more
Zestaponi is the center of Margveti's Eparchy of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Zestaponi is situated in the furthest east of the Colchis Plateau, and is built on both banks of the Qvirila River.
It is an important industrial center, with a large ferro-alloy plant processing manganese ore from nearby Chiatura. Zestaponi is in the Kolkheti lowlands, a semi-tropical region with relatively cold winters averaging −4 °C (25 °F) in January and hot summers averaging 24 °C (75 °F) in August. The surrounding countryside is a wine-growing region.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Zestaponi?
Within an hour or so of Zestaponi: Katskhi Pillar (25 km), Chiatura Cable Cars (29 km), Tskaltubo Abandoned Sanatoriums (43 km), Prometheus Cave (47 km).
Are there any good drives near Zestaponi?
The nearest famous roads are Goderdzi Pass, Georgian Military Highway and Kazbegi (Stepantsminda).
Where is Zestaponi?
Zestaponi is in Imereti, Georgia, about 4 km from Shorapani.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 20,183
- Continent
- Asia
- Country
- Georgia
- Region
- Imereti
- Timezone
- Asia/Tbilisi
- Coordinates
- 42.1075, 43.0329
Tags
Worth the detour from Zestaponi
5 notable places within an hour's drive.
photogenic
Chiatura Cable Cars
A Soviet manganese-mining town where aerial cableways strung above the Qvirila gorge in 1954 carried workers up the cliffs. The rusting originals were retired in 2021 and replaced by modern gondolas on the same lines.
29 km · about 35 min drive
photogenic
Tskaltubo Abandoned Sanatoriums
A Soviet spa town of grand radon-bath sanatoriums built between the 1950s and 70s, now mostly derelict with trees growing through colonnaded halls. Stalin's private bathhouse survives among them.
43 km · about 50 min drive
natural wonder
Prometheus Cave
Georgia's showpiece cave, 11km long with six of 22 halls open on a 1,800m lit walkway past stalactite curtains and an underground river you can leave by boat.
47 km · about 55 min drive
castle
Rabati Castle
A fortress in Akhaltsikhe founded in the 9th century and rebuilt wholesale in 2011-12, where a mosque, minaret, Orthodox church and synagogue stand within one set of walls. Controversially over-restored, and undeniably striking.
52 km · about 60 min drive
Driving roads near Zestaponi
3 named roads, passes and coastal drives within 150km.
- 68 kmGoderdzi Pass2,025 m pass on the old Batumi–Akhaltsikhe road through the green Adjarian mountains, linking subtropical coast to volcanic highlands past timber villages and a fledgling ski resort.
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