The crown jewel of the Georgian Black Sea coast – Anaklia is today a developing resort. Anaklia was a village of fishermen and a harbor. At the beginning of AD there was a settlement of the Greeks who called it the name of the Greek mythological hero – Heraklia. In the course of centuries Heraklia turned into Anaklia. Anaklia had close trade ties with neighboring countries. Ships from Trabzon and Constantinople brought salt, dishware, iron and weapons while from Georgia they took maze, box tree, honey, silk, buffalo hide, marten and beaver furs. Trade of humans was also under way – Abkhazian and Megrelian nobles sold their subjects to the Ottomans. According to the legend, the name of this place – ‘Anaklia’ is linked to the trade of captives: as it happened, a child was taken away from mother and sold. A woman stood on the seaside and frenetically wailed. Having heard her moans people allegedly said: ‘Ana rkians’ (‘Mother yells’). ‘Anarkia’ later was renamed ‘Anaklia’. A lot was done during recent years to develop resort area of

Anaklia. The government offered investors beneficial terms and conditions for development of the seaside. After that hotels, restaurants, aqua-park, casino, amphitheater and other items of sea resort infrastructure appeared in Anaklia. Foundation was laid to the construction of several high-ranking hotels. The seaside is adorned with boulevard linking two villages – Anaklia and Ganmukhuri.

 

1. Anaklia-Ganmukhuri seaside zone.

2. Anaklia Boulevard was designed by Spanish architects.

3. The Anaklia-Ganmukhuri linking pedestrian bridge across Inguri river is the longest pedestrian walking bridge in Europe (360 m). It was called ‘Peace Bridge’ – starting point of the road leading to Abkhazia.

 

Location: Zugdidi municipality, Black Sea side, Western part of Kolkheti lowland

Distance: 33 km from Zugdidi, 375 km from Tbilisi.

Sea level: 3 m

Landscape: plain

Climate: maritime, humid subtropical, winter mild, without snow, mean temperature in January 5,4 degrees centigrade; summer very warm, mean temperature in August 22,9 degrees centigrade

Average annual precipitation: 1400-1680 mm

Average comparative annual humidity: 70%

Duration of annual sunny light: 2200 h.

Natural treatment factors: maritime climate, sea water, beach sand

Types of therapy: thalassotherapy, sand baths

Diseases for treatment: respiratory organs and respiratory tracts non-TB diseases – lymphadenitis, bronchitis; functional disorders of cardiovascular and nervous systems, iron-deficit anemia, prevention of endocrine obesity and diabetes mellitus