Gagra
Town in Abkhazia/Georgia
title: "Gagra" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-gagra-district", "populated-coastal-places-in-georgia-(country)", "greek-colonies-in-colchis", "georgian-black-sea-coast"] description: "Town in Abkhazia/Georgia" topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-gagra-district" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gagra" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Town in Abkhazia/Georgia ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Gagra |
| native_name | ka |
| ab | |
| settlement_type | Town |
| image_skyline | Красотища - panoramio (2).jpg |
| image_shield | Герб Гагры.jpg |
| image_map | Gagra na mapě.svg |
| image_caption | Coastline of Gagra |
| pushpin_map | Georgia#Georgia Abkhazia |
| map_caption | Location of Gagra in Abkhazia |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location of Gagra |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | Georgia |
| subdivision_type1 | Partially recognized |
| independent country | |
| subdivision_name1 | Abkhazia |
| subdivision_type2 | District |
| subdivision_name2 | Gagra |
| leader_title | Mayor |
| leader_name | Yuri Khagush |
| population_est | 12002 |
| pop_est_as_of | 2018 |
| utc_offset | +3 |
| coordinates | |
| blank_name | Climate |
| blank_info | Cfa |
| :: |
| name = Gagra | native_name = ka ab | nickname = | official_name = | settlement_type = Town | motto = | image_skyline = Красотища - panoramio (2).jpg | image_shield = Герб Гагры.jpg | image_map = Gagra na mapě.svg | image_caption = Coastline of Gagra | pushpin_map = Georgia#Georgia Abkhazia | map_caption = Location of Gagra in Abkhazia | pushpin_map_caption = Location of Gagra | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Georgia | subdivision_type1 = Partially recognized independent country | subdivision_name1 = Abkhazia | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Gagra | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Yuri Khagush | established_title = | established_date = | area_total_km2 = | area_footnotes = | population_est = 12002 | pop_est_as_of = 2018 | population_as_of = | population_total = | population_density_km2 = | timezone = | utc_offset = +3 | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = | elevation_m = | area_code = | blank_name = Climate | blank_info = Cfa | website = Gagra (გაგრა; Abkhaz and ) is a town in Abkhazia/Georgia, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. Its subtropical climate made Gagra a popular health resort since the Imperial Russian times.
It had a population of 26,636 in 1989, but this has declined considerably as a result of ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia and other demographic shifts during and after the War in Abkhazia (1992–93).
Gagra is the center of the district of the same name. It is located in the western part of the region of Abkhazia, and the Psou River serves as the border with the Krasnodar Krai of Russia.
Etymology
According to a number of Georgian scholars, Gagra is derived from Gakra meaning "walnut" in the Svan language, while Gakari/Kakari means "a place with walnut trees", which is in accordance to toponym used in old maps. The name of the city is claimed by Z. Danelia to originate from the Gagaa family, who, according to Danelia, once lived there. However, the historicity of the Gagaa family and its connection to the city is disputed due to lack of evidence. According to V. Kvarchia, the name Gagra is derived from a combination of two Abkhaz words: a-ga ("coast") and a-kra ("to close"), that is, "a place where the shore is closed". According to Z. Anchabadze, etymology of the city is derived from "Gagrifshi." The term "Gak" or "Kak" is considered a personal name, while the affix "-ri" denotes possession. Additionally, the affix "-fsh-" is interpreted as indicating "the importance of the place."
History
The town was established as a Greek colony in Colchis, called Triglite (). Colchis came under the control of the kingdom of Pontus in the 1st century BC before being absorbed by the Roman Empire, which renamed the town as Nitica. Its geographical position led the Romans to fortify the town, which was repeatedly attacked by Goths and other invaders. The town and the whole region of Colchis remained part of Byzantine Empire.
It was known to the Genoese merchants and the Gagra harbour might have been used by them. 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.
Gagra within the Russian Empire
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Oldenburg_palace.jpg" caption="Palace of the Prince of Oldenburg"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Old_Gagra.jpg" caption="Old houses in Gagra"] ::
In the 16th century, Gagra and the rest of western Georgia were conquered by the Ottoman Empire. 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.
Russia built a small fort in Gagra in 1833 which was destroyed during the Crimean War. The Sadz Abkhaz who inhabited the land between Gagra and the Khosta were expelled to the Ottoman Empire after fierce battles.{{cite book |last1=Hewitt |first1=George |author-link1=George Hewitt |date=2013 |title=Discordant Neighbours: A Reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian Conflicts |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-24893-9 |pages=25-26
In 1904 the town was discovered by Duke Alexander of Oldenburg, 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 Sukhumi Okrug to Black Sea Governorate in 1904.
In the Russian Revolution of 1905, 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 were 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 take over the town; despite a brief French attempt to repel them during the Russian Civil War, the town was firmly incorporated into the new Soviet Union within Georgian SSR.
Gagra under the Soviet Union
Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin 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 sanatoriums were built there. The resort grew and was developed intensively as part of the "Soviet Riviera". A 1985 musical film Winter Evening in Gagra further popularized the resort. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Заброшенное_здание_в_Гагре._-panoramio(7).jpg" caption="Abandoned buildings are common in Old Gagra"] ::
Gagra in post-soviet Abkhazia
In the late 1980s, tensions grew between the Georgian and Abkhazian communities in the region. An all-out war erupted between 1992 and 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. Gagra and the Abkhazian capital Sukhumi were at the centre of the fighting and suffered heavy damage. To this date ethnic Georgians have an IDP status and have not been able to return to their homes.
Monuments
The main sights of Gagra are:
- Ruins of the Abaata Fortress (4th–5th AD)
- A 6th-century Church of Gagra
- Marlinsky defensive tower (1841)
- 19th-century palace of the Prince of Oldenburg
Gallery
File:Untitled - panoramio - Karim Jamal (21).jpg|House of Culture in Gagra File:Красотища - panoramio (3).jpg|Coastline of Gagra File:Гагра. Ресторан Гагрипш. - panoramio.jpg|Gagra Restaurant "Gagripsh" File:Nikanor Chernetsov. Gagra Fortress.jpg|Gagra Fortress (1879) painting by Nikanor Chernetsov File:Anacopia church.jpg|An early medieval church of the Protection of the Virgin File:Черное море Абхазия.jpg|View on the Black sea in Old Gagra File:2014 Gagra, Plaża (17).jpg|Beach in Gagra File:Gagra train tunnel.jpg|Gagra train tunnel File:Hammond Slides Russia 35.jpg|View from an aircraft in 1958. North side of Gagra, with the Abaata station and Zhoekvar river valley in the center. The city of Gagra itself is to the right. File:600 м над уровнем моря - panoramio.jpg|Apartment buildings of New Gagra File:Gagra300.jpg|New Gagra aerial view File:Gagra - panoramio.jpg|New Gagra in wintertime File:Kumaal16.jpg|Streets in Gagra File:- panoramio - Николай Семёнов (64).jpg|Avenue in Gagra File:Площадь им. Гагарина - panoramio.jpg|Nartaa square, Gagra File:Гагры Колонада.jpg|Colonnade in Primorsky Park File:A tribute to Romantism.jpg|Winter Theater File:Гагра. Замок принца Ольденбургского - panoramio.jpg|19th-century palace of the Prince of Oldenburg (at restoration) File:Gagrypsh.jpg|View from the Black Sea on Gagra File:Gagra Station.JPG|The building of the Gagra railway station File:Monument in Gagra (1).jpg|Monument to the dead in the Great Patriotic War
Notes
References
References
- {{Abkhazia-note
- The Governor of [[Gagra District]] is at the same time Mayor of the Gagra municipality.
- (29 September 2023). "В сухумский порт прибыл корабль Черноморского флота России". Эхо Кавказа.
- "Государственный комитет Республики Абхазия по статистике".
- {{Abkhazia-note
- Topchishvili, Roland (2005), [http://www.nplg.gov.ge/dlibrary/collect/0001/000070/Georgian_Mountein_Regions.pdf History of Georgian Mountain Regions: Svaneti and Its Inhabitants (Ethno-historical Studies)] {{webarchive. link. (2012-03-10 . [[National Parliamentary Library of Georgia]])
- Kekelia, Igor. (2022). "აფხაზეთის ისტორიული და თანამედროვე ტოპონიმია". Artanuji.
- БОНДАРЕВ, Н.Д.. (1981). "В ГОРАХ АБХАЗИИ (''In Abkhazian mountains'')". Физкультура и спорт.
- Kekelia, Igor. (2022). "აფხაზეთის ისტორიული და თანამედროვე ტოპონიმია". Artanuji.
- Кәарҷиа В. Е. Аҧсны атопонимика — Аҟәа. 2002. P. 92
- (2020). "Абхазия и итальянские города-государства (XIII–XV вв.). Очерки взаимоотношений". Алетейя.
- Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia
- (2014). "From Conflict to Autonomy in the Caucasus: The Soviet Union and the Making of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh". Routledge.
- Human Rights Watch Arms Project. [[Human Rights Watch]]/[[Helsinki]]. March 1995 Vol. 7, No. 7. [https://www.hrw.org/reports/1995/Georgia2.htm Georgia/Abkhazia: Violations of the Laws of War and Russia's Role in the Conflict]
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