Anaklia is a seaside resort in western Georgia. Samegrelo-Zemo is located in the Svaneti region, where the Enguri River flows into the Black Sea, near the border with Abkhazia.
History of Anaklia
The oldest settlement on the territory of Anaklia is specific to the Colchis culture and dates back to the Middle Bronze Age. Classical Heraclea of Colchis, Anaclia of later writers, Anarghia of Archangelo Lamberti and Jean Chardin… After the disintegration of the Kingdom of Georgia in the 15th century, it became an important sea port and fishing station within the Principality of Mingrelia.
The town was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1723; It was transformed into a maritime outpost and slave trade area. The Kingdom of Imereti, knowing the opportunity of the Ottoman Empire being at war with Russia, regained control over Anaklia in 1770. With the capture of Anaklia in 1805, the Russians increased the tension between the Russian and Ottoman Empires. In the 1850s, Anaklia was a fortified port with a small but powerful customs house that carried out important trade with Turkey. At that time, its population was around 600 and it had large suburbs consisting of detached houses where Greeks, Jews and Armenians lived.
The importance of the port of Anaklia later decreased significantly, but a small Black Sea Fleet base was used during the Soviet period. After the war in Abkhazia (1992-93), a Russian peacekeeping post was opened in Anaklia in 1994. After a series of protests by Georgians, Russian soldiers abandoned the outpost in July 2007.
A monument was erected in Anaklia on May 21, 2012, to commemorate Russia’s expulsion of the Circassian people from the region following the end of the Caucasian War in the 1860s. May 21 was considered an act of genocide by the Georgian government and the monument was erected on that day. The monument was designed by Khusen Kochesokov, a sculptor from the North Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria.
Today, Anaklia is a holiday region full of hotels. Kazantip, electronic music festival, was held in Anaklia in 2014 and was later replaced by GEM Fest. It has been held in Anaklia since 2015.
Places to Visit in Anaklia
Since Anaklia is literally a sea, sand and sun holiday town, I cannot list dozens of places to see, but you can enjoy the beach no matter what season it is 🙂
Anaklia-Ganmukhuri Pedestrian Bridge
The pedestrian bridge connecting Anaklia to Ganmukhuri village over the Enguri River is considered the longest cable-stayed wooden bridge in Europe and possibly the world.
2014’ün Kazantip’i GEM Oldu
KaZantip, also known simply as “Z”, was an electronic dance music festival held annually in Crimea from 1992 to 2013. The entrance ticket was called “viZa”. It lasts 2-3 weeks in August and is visited by approximately 100,000 “paradiZers” each year. In 2014, the festival was held outside Crimea for the first time in Anaklia, Georgia. In 2015, it was to be held February 18-28 on Koh Puos Island in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, but was canceled at the last minute by local authorities. GEM has been held on this beach since 2015.
Diğer Gürcistan yazılarına buradan ulaşabilirsiniz:)
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