Lisi Lake

Lisi Lake is a natural lake on the open hills above Saburtalo, in the north-west of Tbilisi, and one of the places locals go when they want air and space without leaving the city. The water spreads over ~0.47 sq km but is shallow, nowhere deeper than ~4 m, and its surface lies at ~624 m, a good deal higher than the streets of the centre. Planted pines shade part of the shore, while the rest is grassy slope and dry steppe, with the forested ridge behind the old town on the skyline. Treat it as a city park built around a lake rather than a wild spot.

The main thing people do here is go round. A lit, paved loop of ~3 km follows the shore, with marker posts every 500 m that runners use for pacing and a separate lane for bikes and scooters. From late spring to autumn you can hire a catamaran or rowing boat at the jetty, or lie on the small beach on the southern shore and cool off in the water in summer, while anglers cast from the banks. Children have playgrounds and an outdoor gym, and a cluster of cafes near the main entrance serves food and cold drinks.

The lake fills a natural hollow and is fed by rain, snowmelt and groundwater, which leaves it slightly brackish. Until the 1930s villagers used it to water their fields and grazed animals on the slopes. Boating started in 1936, and from 1937 the banks were landscaped as a leisure area, with some 1,400 trees and shrubs put in. Before the Tbilisi Sea reservoir was filled in the 1950s, no larger body of water lay near the city. In 2007 most of the surrounding land passed to a private developer, who rebuilt paths, a beach and cafes from 2012; the city added the lit walkway in 2016.