Gantiadi ( ka, განთიადი ; russian: Гантиади) or Tsandryphsh ( ab, Цандрыҧшь; russian: Цандрыпш), is an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

coast in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, in the

Gagra District Gagra District is a district of Abkhazia. It corresponds to the Georgian district by the same name. In medieval times, it was known as the southern part of Sadzen. It is located in the western part of Abkhazia, and the river Psou serves as a bor ...

of Abkhazia, 5 km from the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n border.

Name

Gantiadi in historical times, was known as Sauchi (russian: Саучи). Then, until 1944 as Yermolov, after the Russian general

Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov (russian: Алексе́й Петро́вич Ермо́лов, p=jɪrˈmoləf; – ) was a Russian Imperial general of the 19th century who commanded Russian troops in the Caucasian War. He served in all the Ru ...

. From 1944 until 1991, the settlement was known as Gantiadi ( ka, განთიადი, russian: Гантиади), from the Georgian word for ''Dawn''. After the 1992-93 war in Abkhazia, Gantiadi was renamed as Tsandrypsh by the de facto government, but the name Gantiadi is still used informally among Abkhazians and widely in other languages. The name Tsandrypsh derives from the princely family Tsanba.

History

Gantiadi is said to have been the historical capital of the principality of Saniga before the 6th century AD. It later became the capital of

Sadzen Lesser Abkhazia (Georgian language, Georgian: ჯიქეთი, Jiqeti) was the term used to refer to those lands of Abkhazia that were not subject to the direct control of the ruling Chachba, Shervashidze dynasty. History After the Russian- ...

Demographics

In 2011, Gantiadi had a population of 5,170. Of these, 55.9% were

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...

, 19.6% Abkhaz, 18.4%

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

, 1.2%

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

, 0.9% Georgians and 0.7%

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

Main sights

Tsandryphsh houses a 6th-century Georgian Christian

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

.''V. Jaoshvili, R. Rcheulishvili'',

Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( ka, ქართული საბჭოთა ენციკლოპედია, ქსე) is the first universal encyclopedia in the Georgian language, printed in Tbilisi from 1965, the editor in chi ...

, V. 2, p. 680, Tbilisi, 1977. A personal residence of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

is also located here.

Notes

External links

De facto government's website of Gantiadi

References

Populated places in Gagra District {{Georgia-geo-stub