Abkhazia is a stunningly beautiful place, an amazing land with unique nature, which here varies from subtropics to alpine meadows. However, not only natural beauties can be admired here. There are many historical and architectural monuments, religious buildings of completely different confessions in Abkhazia. In our article, we want to highlight the most beautiful places in Abkhazia, which are definitely worth seeing if you have the opportunity to visit these parts. This is not only a beautiful country, but also fabulous. Here, with each fortress, lake or stone, some instructive legend is associated.
New Athos
New Athos is a beautiful town located on the slopes of the Iberian and Athos mountains. There are beautiful beaches and numerous shrines (Christian), historical monuments and unique natural sites that Abkhazia is rich in. Beautiful places to stay are everywhere, as well as must-see sights.
One of the most beautiful places is the Simono-Kananitsky Monastery (male). It was built under Alexander III on the very slope of Mount Athos, and it was revived in 1994. The monastery itself is very beautiful.
Anakopian abyss
Here is one of the most famous karst caves called Anakopia abyss. It is one of the largest caves in the world. With its size, it can be compared with the largest dungeons in the world, such as Škocianske in Slovenia. The cave is located under the slopes of the Iverskaya mountain. In fact, it is a huge karst cavity, the volume of which is about one million cubic meters. The cave has a large number of karst formations. This is a very beautiful place, striking the imagination with its majesty and size. Here, a person seems like a small grain of sand in the vast underworld. In the cave you can admire stalactites and stalagmites. The legend says that the apostle Simon himself lived in one of the branches.
The New Athos cave includes nine halls, six of them are guided daily, two can be visited only once a week, and one is scientific activity.
When discussing the most beautiful places in Abkhazia that are worth seeing, we should definitely recommend the New Athos Cave.
Lake Ritsa
This most beautiful place is called the pearl of the country, which is rich in Abkhazia. The most beautiful places, the nature of which is truly striking in its beauty, cause a lot ofemotions. Alpine lake Ritsa is located at an altitude of 950 meters above the sea. It is surrounded by the majestic mountains of the Caucasus, which are covered with dense forests. Five mountain rivers flow into it, because of this, the color of the water masses in its different places is different.
The most beautiful places in Abkhazia are sometimes simply unique. Lake Ritsa is a natural wonder. It is amazingly beautiful and clean. Its length reaches two kilometers, and its depth is 150 meters. It is hard to imagine, but the green waters are visible for ten meters, the lake is so transparent. And there is a reservoir in the north-west of the country, on the territory of a relic national park, which was founded in 1996. This most beautiful reserve has an area of about forty thousand hectares, its lowest parts are located almost at sea level, and the highest - at an altitude of three kilometers. Here are really the most beautiful places in Abkhazia. Where else can you find such a rich natural diversity.
Not so long ago, Lake Ritsa was in the lead in the must-see lists for those who came to Abkhazia. By the way, on its banks were the dachas of Brezhnev and Stalin, where excursions were taken. But then times completely changed, Abkhazia was not up to tourists. However, in recent years, many guests of the country, on their own and with excursion groups, have come to Lake Ritsa to admire the indescribable beauties.
Geg waterfall
Beautiful places in Abkhazia that are worth seeing will not only make your vacation unforgettable, but will also help you to know thisedge closer. One of them is the Circassian waterfall or Gegsky. Its height is 60-70 meters. And it is located in the valley of the wonderful Gega River (these are the slopes of the Gagra Range). The waterfall has its own unique feature. It consists in the fact that the waters do not fall down from the mountain ledges, but break out in a stormy stream from rocky crevices, which are practically invisible. This creates an absolutely stunning effect of water appearing from nowhere, although in fact the streams pass through a karst cave. Such beautiful places in Abkhazia amaze the human imagination.
The gorge itself, along which the Gega flows, is also unusually picturesque. On their way, the flows overcome many thresholds and cascades. However, the beauty of the waterfall attracts not only tourists. Film directors have also been here. For example, the fight scene between Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty was filmed here. So the beautiful places of Abkhazia are even immortalized in the cinema.
Sukhumi Botanical Garden
Many beautiful places in Abkhazia are simply unique. The Sukhum Botanical Garden, which is one of the most ancient, can be safely attributed to them. It was founded in the thirties of the nineteenth century by the doctor Bagrinovsky as a place for growing rare and medicinal plants. And now the garden already occupies about thirty hectares, and more than five thousand species of unique plants from all over the world grow on its territory. And this despite the fact that in its history the Botanical Garden was devastated twice by the Turks (in 1855, 1877), and wars and revolutions of the twentieth centuryalso inflicted heavy losses. But, despite all this, the Botanical Garden survived and is currently functioning.
Old Linden Botanical Garden
One of the most interesting sights of the garden is the three-hundred-year-old linden (Caucasian), which grew here even before the foundation of the park. Its diameter is three meters. Back in 1877, the tree was cut down by the Turks. However, it did not die and continued to grow, reaching a height of twenty meters. In 1987, during a hurricane, the main part of the crown was damaged. Many years have passed since then, but the linden bears fruit and blooms so far.
Prince of Oldenburg Castle
When driving around the beautiful places of Abkhazia (the photo is given in the article), you should definitely visit the wonderful castle of Prince Oldenburg. It is located in the area of Old Gagra. The building itself is located on a mountainside not far from the place where the Zhoekvara river flows into the waters of the Black Sea. And on the coast there is a park planted with agaves, cypresses, palm trees, lemon and orange trees.
The castle was built in 1902 in Art Nouveau style. The author of the project was the architect Luceransky. The palace itself is a beautiful amazing building with a red tiled roof, high chimneys, balconies, a falconer's tower, which wonderfully fits into the entire building ensemble. Simultaneously with the construction of a beautiful castle, the prince began to implement his plan to create a real climatic resort, which could become a “Russian Nice”. This was his main merit.
His financial investments made it possible to create a telegraph office and a subtropical technical school, water supply was installed and electric lighting was made. And in 1903, the climatic station was solemnly opened. January 9, 1903 is considered the day the resort was founded.
And then all the undertakings were not developed. The First World War began. The prince was recalled to St. Petersburg. He could no longer return to Gagra. And in 1917 he generally left for Finland, later he was able to move to France. Prince of Oldenburg spent the rest of his days on the Cote d'Azur.
In 1992-1993. Gagra suffered greatly in the hostilities, and the castle also suffered. Fires and looting defaced the building. Nevertheless, the tourism business is developing, so there is hope that the castle will be restored, as it is of historical value.
Krubera-Voronya Cave (Abkhazia)
The most beautiful places (photos are given in the article) in Abkhazia are so numerous that, perhaps, one visit to the country is not enough to see everything. Close attention deserves the Krubera-Voronya cave, which is the deepest in the whole world (of those studied by speleologists). The entrance to it is located at an altitude of 2256 meters above the sea in the village of Orto-Balagan. The cave belongs to the Arabica mountain range. It was discovered by Georgian speleologists in 1960. It was explored to a depth of 95 meters. Repeated expeditions were carried out in the karst cavity, which discovered small branches at depths. Years went by, researchcontinued. In 2007, they reached a depth of 2196 meters. One of the halls of the cave was even called the "Hall of Soviet speleologists". The discovery of the famous Krubera-Voronya cave is a great merit of several generations of speleologists and karstologists.
Sukhum
You should definitely visit the most beautiful places in Abkhazia for relaxation. Such is the city of Sukhum - the capital of the country. It has a rich history and many monuments. This is not surprising, because he was 2500 years old! Sukhum is primarily a resort town with long traditions. Now it is gradually being revived and occupies a worthy place among the Black Sea tourist centers.
Rest here will appeal to all age categories. The city is very beautiful and immersed in the greenery of subtropical plants. It is not for nothing that it is called the white city, because the restored buildings delight the eye with their whiteness. Next to all this splendor stretches the sea. Vacationers will love the wonderful sandy and pebbly beaches, stretching for more than ten kilometers.
Besletsky bridge
When relaxing in Sukhumi, you can go and see the wonderful gorge of the Basla River, on which the Besletsky Bridge is located, built of stones eight centuries ago. At present, it has darkened and is overgrown with mosses, but still connects the banks of a mountain river. Its length is 35 meters. The Besletsky bridge is made of stone slabs, the thickness of the masonry is 80 centimeters. It has a very simple design. Stone vaults are connected by limestone, which for constructionextinguished for about five years.
The bridge has survived to our times, and you can move along it, it can withstand weight up to eight thousand kilograms. Currently, it is a historical monument of Abkhazia, which has no analogue.
Sights of Gagra
Gagra is a small resort town famous for its beautiful landscapes. The new part of the city continues to be built. To admire the beauties of Gagra, you need to go to the old part of the town. There you can see the Zhoekvarsky gorge, as well as the famous Gagra fortress wall. You should definitely take a walk around the territory of the fortress.
It is also worth seeing the central park of Gagra, which stretches along the sea. It has ponds, sculptures, palm trees, countless citrus and coniferous plants. About a thousand varieties of plants from all over the world grow here. Just from the park there is a cable car to the Oldenburg Castle, which we mentioned earlier.
Stalin's Dacha
On the territory of the arboretum in Sukhumi is one of Stalin's dachas. The park itself was founded at the end of the nineteenth century. The building of the dacha itself is located in the very center of the arboretum, and therefore is buried in flowering plants and centuries-old trees. The building is a small two-story house, consisting of twenty rooms. The area of the apartments is more than six hundred square meters. Now the dacha is considered the residence of the President of Abkhazia.
Blue Lake
Nature of Abkhazia (photo, the most beautiful places are describedus in the article) is so unusual and beautiful that it is not possible to describe all the beautiful places of this region within the framework of the article. However, we have tried to list the main places that you should definitely see.
One of these places is the blue lake. It is located in the Yupshar Canyon, which is popularly called the Stone Bag. To get here, you need to climb the mountain serpentine for a long time. The most beautiful views will open before you. The canyon itself is a twenty-meter split between the rocks. This is where Blue Lake is located. The water in it has a crystal blue color. The place is extraordinarily beautiful, it would be nice to enjoy nature here in silence… But do not rely on peace and solitude, as there are many tourists here.
