Ilia Lake

Ilia Lake is one of the few places on the Kakhetian plain where the water is cold in August. It lies two kilometres from Kvareli at the foot of the Caucasus slope, ringed by forest and small enough to walk around in half an hour.

The name belongs to Ilia Chavchavadze, the writer and public figure who was born in Kvareli in 1837 and remains one of the central figures of modern Georgian identity. His house museum stands in the middle of the town, five minutes away, and many visitors do both in one stop.

The lake is set up for swimming: wooden decks, ladders down into the water, pedal boats and rowing boats for hire, and cafes along the near shore. In July and August the water reaches 22 to 24°C, and the shade on the bank comes from real forest rather than planted umbrellas — which matters when the valley is at 35°C.

Know in advance what this is not. It is not a wild, empty mountain lake. On an August weekend it is busy, music plays from the cafes and the good spots are taken by ten in the morning. If you want quiet, come on a weekday or early: before nine the surface is usually flat and there is almost nobody there.

In autumn the lake changes purpose. Nobody swims, but the forest turns and the path around the shore makes an easy hour's walk with the mountains behind it. In winter the place stays open and completely empty, with nothing running.

There is a second, larger and newer lake on the other side of Kvareli, built as part of a resort development, and the two are easy to confuse when following signs. Ilia Lake is the older, smaller and more wooded of the pair, on the south-eastern side of the town.