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Gagra ( ka, გაგრა; Abkhaz and
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: Гагра) is a town in Abkhazia/
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
, at the foot of the
Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...
. Its subtropical climate made Gagra a popular health resort in Imperial Russian and Soviet times. It had a population of 26,636 in 1989, but this has fallen considerably due to the
ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia The ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia,The Guns of August 2008, Russia's War in Georgia, Svante Cornell & Frederick Starr, p 27In Georgia, Tales of Atrocities Lee Hockstander, International Herald Tribune, 22 October 1993On Ruins of Empire ...
and other demographic shifts during and after the
War in Abkhazia (1992–93) War in Abkhazia may refer to: * War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) * War in Abkhazia (1998) {{disambig ...
. Gagra is the centre of the district of the same name. It is located in the western part of Region of Abkhazia, and river Psou serves as a border with
Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of ...
of Russia.


Etymology

According to some Georgian scholars, ''Gagra'' is derived from ''Gakra'' meaning "walnut" in the
Svan language Svan ( ''lušnu nin''; ka, სვანური ენა, tr) is a Kartvelian language spoken in the western Georgian region of Svaneti primarily by the Svan people. With its speakers variously estimated to be between 30,000 and 80,000, the ...
. According to the Soviet writer Bondaryev, the name of the city originates from the local ''Gagaa'' clan. According to Professor V. Kvarchija, Gagra (< *ga-kʼə-ra) means ‘the holder of the coast’ in Abkhaz (Gagra was mentioned as Kakara, Kakkari on old maps).


History

The town was established as a Greek colony in the kingdom of
Colchis In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...
, called Triglite ( grc, Τριγλίτη), inhabited by Greeks and Colchians. Colchis came under the control of the
kingdom of Pontus Pontus ( grc-gre, Πόντος ) was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty (of Persian origin), which possibly may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemen ...
in the 1st century BC before being absorbed by the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
, which renamed the town as ''Nitica''. Its geographical position led the Romans to fortify the town, which was repeatedly attacked by
Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
and other invaders. The town and the whole region of
Colchis In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...
remained part of
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
. It became a major trading settlement in which Genoese and Venetian merchants were prominent, trading in the town's main exports - wood, honey, wax and slaves. The name "Gagra" appeared for the first time on a map in 1308, on a map of the Caucasus made by the Italian Pietro Visconti, which is now in the Library of Saint Mark in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
.


Gagra within the Russian Empire

In the 16th century, Gagra and the rest of western Georgia was conquered by the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. The western merchants were expelled and the town entered a prolonged period of decline, with much of the local population fleeing into the mountains. By the 18th century the town had been reduced to little more than a village surrounded by forests and disease-ridden swamps. Its fortunes were restored in the 19th century when the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
expanded into the region, annexing the whole of Georgia. The swamps were drained and the town was rebuilt around a new military hospital. Its population, however, was still small; in 1866, a census recorded that 336 men and 280 women, mostly local families or army officers and their dependents, lived in Gagra. The town suffered badly in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878, when Turkish troops invaded, destroyed the town and expelled the local population. Russia won the war, however, and rebuilt Gagra again. In 1904 the town was discovered by
Duke Alexander of Oldenburg , house =House of Holstein-Gottorp , father = Duke Peter of Oldenburg , mother = Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg , birth_date = , birth_place =St. Petersburg, Russian Empire , death_date = , ...
, a member of the Russian royalty. He saw the potential of the region's sub-tropical climate and decided to build a high-class resort there. Having raised a large sum of money from the government, he built a palace there for himself and constructed a number of other buildings in an eclectic variety of architectural styles from around Europe. A park was laid out with tropical trees, and parrots and monkeys were imported to give it an exotic feel. Despite the expensive work, the resort was not initially a success, although it did later attract a growing number of foreign tourists visiting on cruises of the Black Sea. Following the founding of the resort, the area was ceded from
Sukhum Okrug The Sukhumi or Sukhum Okrug was a special administrative district (''okrug'') in the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, part of the Kutaisi Governorate from 1883 until 1905. The administrative center of the district was the Black Sea por ...
to
Black Sea Governorate The Black Sea Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, established in 1896 on the territory of the of the Kuban Oblast. The administrative center of the governorate was the Black Sea port of ...
in 1904.


Gagra under the Soviet Union

In the
Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
, a local uprising produced a revolutionary government in the town, which founded a short-lived Republic of Gagra. This was soon defeated and the revolutionaries arrested ''en masse''. The First World War a few years later was a disaster for Gagra, destroying the tourist trade on which it depended. The Russian Revolution shortly afterwards saw the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
take over the town; despite a brief French attempt to repel them during the
Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...
, the town was firmly incorporated into the new Soviet Union within
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
n SSR. Bolshevik leader
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
issued a decree in 1919 establishing a "worker's resort" in Gagra, nationalising the resort that had been built by Oldenburg. It became a popular holiday resort for Soviet citizens and during World War II gained a new role as a site for the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. After the war, various state-run
sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...
s were built there. The resort grew and was developed intensively as part of the "Soviet Riviera". A 1985 musical film ''
Winter Evening in Gagra Winter Evening in Gagra (russian: Зимний вечер в Гаграх, Zimniy vecher v Gagrakh) is a 1985 musical film directed by Karen Shakhnazarov. Plot Rapid rhythm and playful virtuoso improvisation - that's what tap dance is. The pro ...
'' further popularized the resort.


Gagra in post-soviet Abkhazia

In the late 1980s, tensions grew between the Georgian and Abkhazian communities in the region. All-out war erupted between 1992-1993 which ended in a defeat of the Georgian government's forces. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Georgians were expelled from their homes in Abkhazia and thousands were massacred in an outbreak of mass ethnic cleansing.Human Rights Watch Arms Project.
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
/
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
. March 1995 Vol. 7, No. 7
Georgia/Abkhazia: Violations of the Laws of War and Russia’s Role in the Conflict
/ref> Gagra and the Abkhazian capital
Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...
were at the centre of the fighting and suffered heavy damage.


Monuments

The chief landmarks of Gagra are: *Ruins of the Abaata Fortress (4th-5th century AD) *A 6th-century Church of Gagra, said to be the oldest in Abkhazia *Marlinsky defensive tower (1841) *19th-century palace of the Prince of Oldenburg


International relations


Twin towns — Sister cities

Gagra is twinned with the following city: *
Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.


See also

*
Gagra District Gagra District is a district of Abkhazia. It corresponds to the Georgian district by the same name. In medieval times, it was known as the southern part of Sadzen. It is located in the western part of Abkhazia, and the river Psou serves as a bor ...
*
Sochi conflict Sochi conflict was a three-party border conflict which involved the counterrevolutionary White movement, White Russian forces, Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Red Army and the Democratic Republic of Georgia, each of which sought control over the Black Sea ...


Notes


References


External links

*
webcamera in Gagra
{{Authority control Populated places in Gagra District Populated coastal places in Georgia (country) Greek colonies in Colchis Georgian Black Sea coast