How to Visit Big Shiraki, an Abandoned Soviet Military Airbase in Georgia

When it comes to weird and wonderful places to visit in Georgia, Didi Shiraki (AKA ‘Big Shiraki’ or ‘Great Shiraki’) is right up there with the best.

Built in 1950 by the Soviets, Big Shiraki (or Bol’shiye Shiraki in Russian) served as an airbase for the 178th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment under squadron commander Kirill Yevstigneyev.

When the USSR collapsed, the Sukhoi Su-24 supersonic bombers that were based at Shiraki went home to Russia (one, it seems, was left behind).

The airfield, its labyrinth of runways, barracks and ancillary buildings, were all deserted.

Today, Shiraki remains abandoned, used only by local farmers who graze their cattle on the open grasslands and store their corn crops inside the old aircraft hangars.

Shiraki is a playground for photographers and urbexers and quite honestly one of the most exciting and enthralling places I have ever visited in my life.

I came to Shiraki for the first time with my dad a few years back. Right from the get-go we were both overcome with a childlike joy! I think we could have happily spent the entire day walking the old runways and scrutinising the different patinas on the rusty hangars.

We were lucky to be there with Mindia Lomidze, a friend of mine who has a lot of experience with Shiraki and nearby Vashlovani. If you are looking for an excellent driver-guide for this part of Georgia, I highly recommend getting in touch with Mindia via Facebook.

The airfield’s remote location on the Shiraki Plain, deep in the Georgian steppe (and not far from the entrance to the Vashlovani Protected Areas), adds to its mystique.

Normally the desert-like landscape here is dry and barren. Arriving during an unseasonably wet spring, it was uncharacteristically green and plastered with wildflowers at the time of our visit.

Last autumn, I returned to Shiraki for a second time and encountered a totally different landscape of dried fields and harsh blue skies. Spring is definitely the time to visit for softer light.

Big Shiraki was sold to a private investor in 2006, leading to rumours that the US was planning to install a new airdrome at Shiraki and use it as a base for the American military (obviously that never panned out).

In a strange twist of fate, during the war between Georgia and Russia in August 2008, enemy jets – apparently manned by young soldiers – bombed Shiraki. Little did they know the airfield was abandoned (or that it was a piece of Soviet infrastructure in the first place).

Shiraki has dozens and dozens (I counted 53) of these gigantic hangars woven together with long concrete airstrips. Viewed from above, the complex runs from northwest to northeast, with the hangars organised into four clusters.

Rounded and covered with turf roofs, they would have been virtually indistinguishable from afar. Google Maps shows them clearly, like vertebrae arranged along a vast concrete backbone.

The hangars are guarded by heavy metal doors with four huge wheels visible along the bottom. Every numbered crescent-shaped door is unique: Each one has taken on a different pattern and colourway of rust.

Some are even inscribed with old Russian writing, apparently messages addressed to Lenin.

It’s possible to scale the grassy hangars and stand atop the metal doors.

Below ground, locals say there is probably a system of bunkers lurking out of sight.

In the scramble to evacuate, it seems the Russians left one tactical bomber behind. The lone plane sits on the side of the runway at the north-western edge of Shiraki (see the exact location pinned here). It is slowly falling apart.

Was this one of the aircraft that was stationed here and participated in the Soviet–Afghan War?

Update: On July 7, 2026, the airplane was mysteriously loaded onto a truck and taken away…

Hidden somewhere amongst the old barracks and offices there is a faceless statue. On my second visit, I managed to track it down.

The statue commemorates Valery Chkalov (1904-1938), the Soviet test pilot who famously completed the world’s first transpolar flight in 1937.

The statue is located at the far south-eastern corner of the complex, pinned here.

At the northeastern end of the airfield, we encountered another figure: a man dressed in army fatigues emerging from a cluster of old buildings. He called for our attention and informed us that Big Shiraki is his property, and that no photography is allowed on the site. He was friendly enough, but it was not the most pleasant encounter.

I doubt there is any truth to his claims, but we of course complied with his request and made our way out of the area. To avoid confrontation, I recommend you steer clear of this corner and skip the second access road that leads out to Zemo Kedi. See directions for how to approach Shiraki below.

Keep in mind that Big Shiraki is privately owned, but there are no fences, gates, signs or anything else to suggest that the area is off-limits.

The man could have been a shepherd from Tusheti. Tush highlanders have been using Shiraki as a winter pasture since the 17th century when the rulers of Kakheti granted them grazing rights as a thanks for their support in defending the kingdom from Safavid Iran.

Shiraki is an incredible vestige of the past. As Georgia starts redeveloping old Soviet sites (the sanatoriums at Tskaltubo and cable cars in Chiatura come to mind) places like Shiraki are becoming more and more difficult to find.

I don’t see Shiraki as forgotten or forsaken – I see it as a place that has just been left to be. In this respect I found it peaceful and almost soothing.

Still, I can’t help but think how much potential Shiraki has – it would be an amazing festival venue. It would be interesting to transform the airfield into a museum and preserve the hangars and infrastructure – there are several WWII-era airfields in Darwin where this sort of initiative has been quite successful.

There is another abandoned airfield in Zeda Bashi, not too far from where I live in Kutaisi. I’m sure there are more Shirakis scattered around Georgia – if you know of any other ex-USSR military sites that are worth checking out, please let me know in the comments below.

How to get to Big Shiraki

Big Shiraki is located 40 kilometres (around an hour by road) from the small town of Dedoplistskaro in the far south-eastern part of Kakheti region. It is certainly not what you think of when you think of Kakheti – Shiraki is about as far away from the Alazani River Valley and Georgia’s wine region as you can get.

I recommend basing yourself in Dedoplistskaro, ideally staying at the wonderful Savanna Guest House, and visiting Big Shiraki first thing in the morning.

If you are headed to Vashlovani National Park, you can easily stop by Shiraki on the way to the park entrance near Kasristskali.

You need your own car to visit Big Shiraki. The road into the airfield is mostly sealed and a 4WD is not required, although a car with high clearance is always a good idea.

The main road into the airfield is partially destroyed. Instead, you should take this turn off and access it from the western side. Try to avoid visiting after heavy rain as the road only worsens when it turns to mud.

Once you’re in, you can drive along the sealed runways and access roads to explore the complex in full.

I recommend you budget at least an hour for Big Shiraki, more if you’re particularly keen on photography.

If you have a drone, bring it – I still regret leaving mine at home! Thanks to Mindia for letting me use some of his photos from our visit in this guide.

More places in Georgia for Soviet history

• Gurjaani and the 1920s Red Cellar
• Zestafoni and the 1930s Ferroalloy Factory
• Chiatura and Stalin’s rope roads
• Tskaltubo and the ‘Waters of Immortality’
• Guria region and Georgia’s Tea Route