This remarkable building with a clock, almost like in the movie "Back to the Future", against the backdrop of magnificent palm trees and other lush southern vegetation, is a cult place of the early 20th century, where Mayakovsky rested, sang Chaliapin and members of the royal family spent time.
But you hardly know about it, because it is located … in Abkhazia. It is called the Gagripsh restaurant. It was here, in the restaurant "Gagripsh" in 1903, that Prince AP Oldenburgsky, a Russian senator, general and chief of the sanitary and evacuation unit, solemnly celebrated the opening of the Gagra resort. What happened here before?
And there was practically nothing. Yes - yes, from our modern point of view - just nothing: neither these beautiful palms, nor orchards, nor a prosperous resort. Once a thriving Greek colony, then a Roman trading post, by the middle of the 19th century it became a Turkish outpost, where the main occupation was the slave trade. The area was swampy and malaria and other diseases flourished. At the height of the Russian - Turkish wars, when this territory was conquered by Russia, the prince drew attention to the uniqueness of its location: it was literally sandwiched between the sea and the mountain, and it was this feature that was reflected in the name of the city and resort "Gagra". He suggested that Nicholas II make here a fashionable resort for the nobility, so that they spend time here instead of Nice and Cannes (relevant, isn't it?). “It’s better for Zolotishk to be in the treasury,” the tsar and the general agreed unanimously,and the latter boldly set to work.
The most important and first thing was the drainage of the area. For this, a huge number of eucalyptus trees were brought from Australia, which absorb moisture very strongly - from the roots to the tips of each leaf. That is why they have bare trunks - the bark gets wet and falls off under the weight of moisture. One of the central streets of Gagra still looks like a eucalyptus alley, in some places there are whole eucalyptus groves.
In addition to eucalyptus trees, mosquito fish have been bred in the sea to eradicate diseases of increased importance, which eat the larvae of anopheles mosquitoes. And for the resort spirit, the interest of diversity, an abundance of exotic vegetation was introduced, which had never been here before: palm trees (yes, these very palm trees) - from South America, China and the Maldives, cypresses and even bamboo. It is now located in the central park of Gagra, where samples of various exotic plants have been collected.
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Gradually, the Russian elite began to move to Gagra (although, in fact, it is correct to say Gagra - this is what the Abkhaz insist on), and the prince himself built two residences for himself in this city: a winter and a summer one.
The aforementioned restaurant was generally built in a rather unique way: the prince saw its life-size model at an exhibition in France. There it was bought, disassembled, transported to Gagra, and then assembled here without a single nail, as it actually was supposed to be according to its design.
The activities of monarchs were not limited to this. So, the prince's wife restored an ancient temple in Gagra, the history of which began around the 6th century AD. However, she used it with greater benefit, creating a shelter for homeless children there. Near the temple, the century-old cypress trees planted by the orphanage's pupils still rise. These historical milestones turn our understanding of what Russia was like by the beginning of the 20th century, when the ruling dynasties and the upper strata of society were engaged in charity and improvement, and did not think all night long how to pin a poor and disenfranchised people to their nails.
As a result, the temple stands, the walls of the ancient fortress that surround it are also in place. And the one who called for the overthrow of the hated "oppressors" somehow could not resist on the podium. Leaned alone against the walls of ancient buildings.
We will be unfair if we give all the laurels of landscaping only to the Prince of Oldenburg, because next to Gagra, Orthodox monks of the New Athos Monastery have launched an active work on the improvement of the region, who built a port, a mill, a vineyard and in every possible way improved these places. In his memoirs, Chekhov spoke of this region very poetically. And it was here that Gorky actually gave birth to a woman who could not be in the hospital at the right time, which he described later in his story "The Birth of a Man."
The care of Alexander III and the attention he paid to this land is evidenced by the royal stele and the gate with the corresponding inscription, which stand near the dam built in 1850. The road around the dam, going further into the city, is still called the Royal Road.
However, it is worth plunging into even greater antiquity - because the region is replete with the ruins of old fortresses left over from their ancestors. Gagra inherited the ancient Greek fortress "Abbot", which is located on the very coast of the Black Sea.
Little remains of the fortress, except for the ancient temple. Several rows of stonework forming the walls and foundation. The rest of the space is currently being actively built up with hotels and boarding houses.
If we drive away from Gagra to less populated areas, then the abundance of the ruins of ancient forts will please us very much. From one of them, local builders at one time even tried to start building a bridge - apparently deciding that there is nothing good building material to lie around just like that. Approaching Lykhny, next to the ancient church, we will see the remains of the palace of the princely dynasty of Chachba. Prince Mikhail Chachba did a lot to restore Abkhazia.
This is what little remains of the princely palace. In some places, the interiors, the arrangement of rooms and their purpose are vaguely guessed in the bulges and relief transitions of the masonry.
Now the walls of this palace are generously braided with vegetation, creating bizarre shapes in the outlandish harmony of greenery and stone.
What is interesting is that the palace stands on a place that has been a regional center since the Middle Ages. Here national veche, hippodromes were held, important issues were resolved at the councils of elders. Therefore, to this day, people come to the local temple to fulfill important aspirations and requests, which was built on the ruins of a pagan temple, and now keeps several miraculous icons. This is how different eras and historical plots are intricately intertwined.
Plunging into the depths of the centuries, we learn with you that the history of Abkhazia is also closely connected with early Christianity at the dawn of its formation, and keeps its secrets in the remains of ancient temples and relics. For example, the sarcophagus of the famous St. John Chrysostom is located very close to Lykhny - a couple of hours drive in a mountain monastery. But this, as they say in interesting books, is a completely different story.
Author: ladygodiva77
