New Athos
| New Athos Афон Ҿыц, ახალი ათონი, Новый Афон Afon Ch'yts, Akhali Atoni, Novy Afon |
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| — town — | |
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| Partially recognized independent country | Abkhazia |
| District | Gudauta |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Feliks Dautia |
| Population (1989) | |
| • Total | 26,636 |
| Time zone | MSK (UTC+3) |
New Athos (Abkhaz: Афон Ҿыц, Afon Ch'yts; Georgian: ახალი ათონი, Akhali Atoni; Russian: Новый Афон, Novy Afon) is a town in the Gudauta raion of Abkhazia, situated some 22 km from Sukhumi by the shores of the Black Sea. The town was previously known under the names Nikopol, Acheisos, Anakopia, Nikopia, Nikofia, Nikopsis, Absara, Psyrtskha. New Athos Cave is one of the tourist attractions of Abkhazia.
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[edit] History
A large ancient Greek port town of Anacopia was recorded there in the 3rd century. Its ruins are still visible. In the 5th century, Georgians [1] built a fortress on the top of the Iverian Mountain. Anacopia was the capital of the Abkhazian princedom in the orbit of the Byzantine Empire and then of the Abkhazian Kingdom after the archon Leon II declared himself a king in the late 8th century. Later, the capital was moved to Kutaisi.
Anacopia was ceded to Byzantine Empire by Demetre in 1033 but was retaken by Georgians in 1072 among the other territories Georgia gained as a result of the Empire's defeat at Manzikert at the hands of Seljuks.
[edit] Administration
On 8 May 2003, Vitali Smyr was appointed Minister for Agriculture and released as Mayor of New Athos.[2] On 19 May, Feliks Dautia was appointed his successor.[3]
[edit] List of Mayors
| # | Name | Entered office | Left office | President | Comments | ||
| Heads of the Town Administration: | |||||||
| Vitali Smyr | ≤ July 2000 | 8 May 2003 | [2] | Vladislav Ardzinba | |||
| Feliks Dautia | 19 May 2003 | [3] | 12 February 2005 | ||||
| 12 February 2005 | 29 May 2011 | Sergei Bagapsh | |||||
| 29 May 2011 | Present | Alexander Ankvab | |||||
[edit] Monastery
In 1874 Russian monks from the overcrowded Rossikon Monastery on Mount Athos arrived to the Caucasus in order to find a place for possible resettlement. They feared that the Ottoman Empire would oust the Russians from Athos after the outbreak of the impending Russo-Turkish War. They selected Psyrtskha, and the Neo-Byzantine New Athos Monastery, dedicated to St. Simon the Canaanite, was constructed there in the 1880s with funds provided by Tsar Alexander III of Russia. Eventually Russian monks were permitted to stay in the "old" Athos, and the New Athos monastery had much less occupancy than anticipated.
In 1924, during the Soviet persecution of religion, the monastery was closed. It was later used as a storage facility, tourist base, hospital and museum. Its return to the Orthodox Church began in 1994, after the end of the war.
The scenic setting of the New Athos monastery by the sea has made it a popular destination with Russian tourists visiting Abkhazia.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: New Athos |
- ^ Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia, by David Braund, p. 54
- ^ a b "Выпуск № 088" (in Russian). Apsnypress. 8 May 2003. http://www.apsnypress.narod.ru/2003/05_may-03/AP05-08-03.htm. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ a b "Выпуск № 095". Apsnypress. 19 May 2003. http://apsnypress.narod.ru/2003/05_may-03/AP05-19-03.htm. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ International Crisis Group, Abkhazia: Deepening Dependence, p. 6
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (January 2009) |
Coordinates: 43°05′30″N 40°48′00″E / 43.09167°N 40.8°E
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