| Tsebelda Fortress | |
|---|---|
| New Athos, Abkhazia, | |
 Ruins of Tsebelda fortress in 1953 | |
  Tsebelda Fortress  Tsebelda Fortress | |
| Coordinates | 43°01′30″N41°16′00″E / 43.02500°N 41.26667°E |
Tsebelda fortress is a Late Antique/Early Medieval fortification near the village of Tsebelda, in the eponymous valley, in Abkhazia, Georgia.
The Tsebelda fortress is an architectural complex consisting of ruined towers, Christian chapels, a palace, necropolis, and several other structures. It is erected on two cliffs more than 400 m high above the Kodori river gorge. The extant structures at Tsebelda are identified with the Tsibilium/Tzibile of the Classical authors, such as Procopius of Caesarea. It appears to have been a chief fortress in Apsilia, a vassal principality of the Lazic kingdom in the 6th century. [1] [2] The fortress dominated the confluence of three major routes from the northern Eurasian steppe on their way to the Black Sea. Around 550, during the Lazic War, the Laz notable Terdetes betrayed his king Gubazes and handed the fortress of Tzibile over to the Persians. [3] The Apsilians retook the fort, but refused to accept Lazic rule until persuaded to do so by the Byzantine general John Guzes. [4] [5]
The law of Georgia treats the monument as part of cultural heritage in the occupied territories. [6] In January 2017, Georgia, followed by the United States Mission to the OSCE, accused the Russian military of having put the historical site of Tsebelda under risk of destruction after a nearby located 19th-century Polish cemetery and a church were demolished in order to build a shooting range. [7] [8] Officials from breakaway Abkhazia confirmed the damage during a firing range construction but did not elaborate further details. [8] The Russian Defense Ministry denied any involvement. [8]
Lazica was the kingdom in the territory of west Georgia in the Roman/Byzantine period, from about the 1st century BC. Created as a result of the collapse of the kingdom of Colchis and the gaining of independence by the tribal-territorial units included in it in 131 ad.
Svaneti or Svanetia is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia. Running along the Greater Caucasus range, Svaneti is one of the most mountainous regions of Georgia. It is largely inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians.
Pitsunda or Bichvinta is a resort town in the Gagra District of Abkhazia/Georgia. Founded by Greek 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.
The Kingdom of Abkhazia, also known Egrisi-Abkhazia, was a medieval feudal state in the Caucasus which was established in the 780s. Through dynastic succession, it was united in 1008 with the Kingdom of the Iberians, forming the Kingdom of Georgia.
The history of Abkhazia, a region in the South Caucasus, spans more than 5,000 years from its settlement by the lower-paleolithic hunter-gatherers to its present status as a partially recognized state.
Foreign relations exist between Armenia and Georgia. Both countries were former Soviet republics of the Soviet Union. Both countries' governments have had generally positive relations, but there have also been some problems.
The nation of Georgia was first unified as a kingdom under the Bagrationi dynasty by the King Bagrat III of Georgia in the early 11th century, arising from a number of predecessor states of the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia. The Kingdom of Georgia flourished during the 10th to 12th centuries under King David IV the Builder and Queen Tamar the Great, and fell to the Mongol invasion by 1243, and after a brief reunion under George V the Brilliant to the Timurid Empire. By 1490, Georgia was fragmented into a number of petty kingdoms and principalities, which throughout the Early Modern period struggled to maintain their autonomy against Ottoman and Iranian domination until Georgia was finally annexed by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. After a brief period of independence as Democratic Republic of Georgia, the country soon ended up being a Soviet republic until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The current republic of Georgia has been independent since 1991.
Abkhazia, is a disputed territory between Georgia and Russian-backed Republic of Abkhazia, in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It covers 8,665 square kilometres (3,346 sq mi) and has a population of around 245,000. Its capital and largest city is Sukhumi.
The area of Georgia was under Roman control between the 1st century BC and the 7th century AD. This control varied by time and was intermittent over the kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia in the Caucasus region. These kingdoms roughly correspond to some of the western and eastern parts of modern Georgia.
Tsebelda culture is a late antiquity to early medieval archaeological culture in the territory of the Apsilae or Tsebelda tribe, located in Abkhazia, Georgia on the Black Sea coast. The culture is known mainly from excavation of burial sites, starting in 1959, which yielded a large collection of artefacts.
The Apsilae or Apsili were an ancient tribe inhabiting the territory of Apsilia, in modern Abkhazia.
Before the unification of the country by the Bagrationi dynasty in the 10th century, several Georgian states including Iberia and Colchis, managed to subsist between the Roman Empire to the West and the Sassanid Empire to the East. Between the 11th and 15th centuries, the Kingdom of Georgia was a major regional power, which withstood invasions by the Seljuk Empire, Mongol Empire, and Timurid Empire, before its fragmentation and submission to the Ottoman and Safavid Empires. Many Georgians fought in the armies of the empires that ruled the country from the 16th century, be it the Safavids, the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union, and the nation kept a reputation for military valor and skill. Since 1991, the newly independent Georgia has taken part in many conflicts: its conflicts with Russia culminated in the 2008 Russo–Georgian War, while its alliance with the United States led to Georgia's participation in the Afghan and Iraq Wars.
Skande, sometimes known as Skanda (სკანდა), is a village in the Terjola Municipality, Imereti, Georgia. It is located in western part of the country, in the small river valley of Chkhari, part of the Kvirila River system, some 15 km northeast of the town of Terjola. Its population as of the 2014 census was 434.
Vartsikhe is a village in the Baghdati Municipality, Imereti, Georgia. It is located in western part of the country, in the Imereti Lowlands, at the confluence of the Rioni and Khanitskali rivers, some 17 km northwest of the town of Baghdati. Its population as of the 2014 census was 1,559.
The Ambara church is located near village Myussera in the Gudauta District, Abkhazia/Georgia, on the cape of Miusera, close to the mouth of the Ambara stream. Ambara three-nave basilica represents an important example of this type's architectural monuments. Ambara church has been given the status of culture heritage monument.
The Bzyb Church is a ruined medieval Christian church at the village of Bzyb in Gagra District, Abkhazia/Georgia, on the right bank of the Bzyb River.
The Gagra Church, also known as Abaata, is an Early Medieval Christian church at Gagra in Abkhazia, Georgia. One of the oldest churches in Abkhazia, it is a simple three-nave basilica built in the 6th century by Anchabadze dynasty. It was reconstructed in 1902.
The Tsebelda iconostasis is an Early Medieval peace of Christian art from Abkhazia/Georgia, a limestone fragment of an altar screen from the 7th or 8th century, which were discovered near the village of Tsebelda in the 1880s.
Epigraphy of Abkhazia comprises all the epigraphic monuments inside Abkhazia, Georgia. They are all in Georgian, Greek, Ottoman and Latin languages. The number of the Georgian epigraphic monuments is more than 100 and they date from the 8th century AD. The Greek inscriptions are up to 22 and they mostly date before the 9th century AD. Out of the Ottoman Turkish inscriptions, the oldest one is from 1598. Out of the Georgian inscriptions up to 15 ones mention the kings of Abkhazia. About 30 inscriptions are seen on icons from Bedia, Bichvinta, Tsebelda and Ilori churches.
The Kvitouli Church of Kiachi is a ruined medieval church in the Kvitouli, Ochamchira District, Abkhazia, an entity in the South Caucasus with a disputed political status. The ruins lie on the Kiachi hill, near the modern-day village of Jgerda, 8 km south of the Kodori river, in the Tsebelda valley. The name Kvitouli refers to a historical community to which the church belonged and of which the modern-day village of Kutol/Kutoli is part.