Pitsunda Пицунда(in Russian) | |
|---|---|
 The view of Caucasus mountains from Pitsunda cape. | |
 Location of Pitsunda | |
  Pitsunda  Pitsunda  Pitsunda | |
| Coordinates:43°10′N40°20′E / 43.167°N 40.333°E /43.167; 40.333 | |
| Country |  Georgia |
| Partially recognized independent country |  Abkhazia[1] |
| District | Gagra |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Vitali Khutava[2] |
| • Deputy Mayor | Beslan Smyr[3] |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 4,198 |
| Climate | Cfa |
Pitsunda orBichvinta (Georgian:ბიჭვინთა,[bitʃʼʷintʰa]ⓘ;Abkhaz:Пицунда;Russian:Пицунда) is aresort town in theGagra District ofAbkhazia/Georgia.[note 1] Founded byGreek colonists in the 5th century BC, Pitsunda became an important political and religious centre of the region in the antiquity and the Middle Ages. Since Soviet times it has been one of the main resorts of Abkhazia.
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Pityus (Ancient Greek:Pityus, Πιτυοῦς, genitivePityuntos, Πιτυοῦντος) was a large and wealthy Greek city in the antiquity.[4]Pliny wrote in AD 77 that the city had been sacked by theHeniochi.[4][5] A Roman fort was founded at Pityus in the first half of the 2nd century and a detachment ofLegio XV Apollinaris was stationed there.[5] The city was surrounded by a defensive wall, the castellum had a second line of defence built in mid-3rd century AD.[6] Excavations guided byAndria Apakidze unearthed, in 1952, remains of three 4th-century churches and a bath with high-qualitymosaic floors. The former "Great Pityus" harbor is now a mere lake within the town.
TheGoths[7] attacked the city in 255 AD after capturing theBosporan fleet. The Roman garrison under the command ofSuccessianus repelled the attack, however they returned in the next year, took the city and proceeded further to sackTrebizond.[8]
SaintJohn Chrysostom was being led towards Pityus by the imperial soldiers, in execution of the decree of exile, when he died on the way in 407.[4] Like Dioskurias (modernSukhumi), it remained under Roman control within theGeorgian kingdom ofColchis until the 7th century. The city passed under Abasgian control and became one of the major political and religious centres of thekingdom ofEgrisi (Lazica). An archbishopric of Pitiunt was instituted in 541. In medieval Georgia, the town's name was spelled asBichvinta. At the end of the 10th century, KingBagrat III of Georgia built there thePitsunda Cathedral which survives to this day and contains vestiges of wall-painting from the 13th and the 16th centuries. Bichvinta also served as the seat of theGeorgian OrthodoxCatholicate of Abkhazia until the late 16th century when Abkhazia came under theOttoman hegemony. In his 1911 article for theCatholic Encyclopedia, Sophrone Pétridès described Pityus as atitular see,[4] but it is not now found in theCatholic Church's list of such sees.[9] In the late 13th century, the area housed a short-livedGenoese trade colony calledPezonda.
Pitsunda was the favourite resort of First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionNikita Khrushchev. In October 1964 he happened to be vacationing in Pitsunda when he was deposed from power. Khrushchev once proposed a major dam and hydroelectric power scheme on theBzyb River near Pitsunda, but his experts informed him that a dam built on the Bzyb River would have had catastrophic effects in causingbeach erosion at Pitsunda. In the end, the dam was built on theInguri River instead, where the impact upon the coastline was assessed to be considerably less pronounced.[10]
On 7 February 2007, after many appeals by inhabitants, thePeople's Assembly of Abkhazia resolved to give Pitsunda town status. Parliamentarians expressed the hope that the decision would help Pitsunda develop as a resort.[11][12] Since becoming a town, the Mayor of Pitsunda is no longer appointed by the Governor ofGagra District but instead directly by thePresident of Abkhazia. On 29 January 2016, Pitsunda's town status was formally enshrined inAbkhazia's constitution.[12][13]
In the 2011 assembly elections, MayorBeslan Ardzinba and six other incumbent deputies of the Assembly stood for re-election. The winning candidates were Beslan Ardzinba, Badra Avidzba, Olga Grigorenko, Chengiz Bigvava, Georgi Zardania, Gennadi Cherkezia, Gennadi Mikanba, Damia Kokoskeria and Inessa Dzkuia.[14] On 14 February, during the first session of the new convocation, Damir Kokoskeria was elected Chairman of the Assembly over Gennadi Cherkezia, by a one vote difference.[15]
Following theMay 2014 Revolution and the election ofRaul Khajimba as President, on 28 October 2014 he replaced Ardzinba as Mayor withChingis Bigvava.[16] Bigvava was not reappointed following the2016 local elections.[17] He was temporarily replaced byBeslan Dbar, until former head of the Association of ResortsVitali Khutaba was temporarily appointed by Khajimba on 16 February 2017, approved by Pitsunda's town council on 20 February and permanently appointed on 27 February.[2][18][19]
The Gosdacha resort complex was built in 1958-1961 for the Soviet leaderNikita Khrushchev on more than 180 hectares of land near Pitsunda.[20] It was used by senior officials of the Communist Party and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union remained under the control of RussianFederal Protective Service.[21] Russia and Abkhazia signed an agreement in 1995 leasing the complex to Russia, however at that time Russia did not recognise Abkhazia and the legitimacy of the agreement has been questioned by local activists.[22][23] On 27 December 2023 the President of Abkhazia signed the law leasing the resort to Russia for 49 years.[24] Hundreds of demonstrators protested against the ratification of the deal starting from 26 December and demanding to amend the boundaries of the resort.[23] The deal was condemned by theGeorgian government,Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.Salome Zourabichvili called the deal "another land grab by Russians in Georgian territories...and their creeping annexation policies".[25][24]
| Heads of the Administration of the Urban-type Settlement Pitsunda: | |||||||
| # | Name | Entered office | Left office | Governor of Gagra District | Comments | ||
| Chingiz Bigvava | ≤ June 2000 | Grigori Enik | |||||
| Jon Dbar | ≥ January 2006 | Valeri Bganba | |||||
| Beslan Ardzinba | October 2006 | [26] | 8 February 2007 | Astamur Ketsba | |||
| Heads of the Administration of the Town Pitsunda: | |||||||
| # | Name | Entered office | Left office | President | Comments | ||
| 1 | Beslan Ardzinba | 8 February 2007 | 29 May 2011 | Sergei Bagapsh | |||
| 29 May 2011 | 1 June 2014 | Alexander Ankvab | |||||
| 1 June 2014 | 28 October 2014 | [16] | Valeri Bganba | ||||
| 2 | Chingis Bigvava | 28 October 2014 | [16] | Raul Khajimba | |||
| Beslan Dbar | 16 February 2017 | [2] | Acting | ||||
| 3 | Vitali Khutava | 16 February 2017 | [2] | Present | |||
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