Shekvetili Dendrological Park

The Shekvetili Dendrological Park is a landscaped arboretum of about 60 hectares on the Guria coast, laid out between the hills and the sea and opened to the public in 2020. It was created by the billionaire and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, and its best-known residents are mature trees, some said to be more than 300 years old, that were dug up elsewhere in Georgia and replanted here whole. About 18 hectares hold species native to western Georgia, while the other 42 hectares are planted with exotic trees and shrubs from five continents, from sequoias and eucalyptus to magnolias, cedars and ginkgo.

A walking path loops past a dense bamboo grove, information boards on plants and birds, and a central artificial lake where flamingos, pelicans, cormorants and African cranes live on islands and along the banks. Elsewhere you may spot lemurs in enclosures, deer and many parrots. The sheer size of the moved trees is the real draw, and some are still held upright by steel cables while their roots settle. There are drinking fountains but no cafes, and you cannot walk straight from the park to the beach, so plan a picnic for afterwards.

Work on the park began in the mid-2010s. Teams uprooted giant trees, among them old tulip trees and magnolias, in places including Batumi and Tsikhisdziri and moved them by road and by sea to Shekvetili. The project drew protests from environmentalists, who questioned the damage to roads, power lines and the trees themselves, and it became the subject of Salomé Jashi's 2021 documentary Taming the Garden. The park opened to visitors in 2020.