A Monument to the Past
Abastumani Tuberculosis Hospital began life as a small wooden palace, high in the Caucasus Mountains, surrounded by pine trees and mist. It was built in the late nineteenth century for Grand Prince Georgi Romanov (1871–1899), younger brother of Nikolai II (1868–1918), the last of the Russian Tsars. Georgi had been plagued by respiratory problems since early childhood. After he started coughing up blood, his physicians decided he would be better off in the clean, dry air of Abastumani, in modern day Georgia.