Anaklia is one of the oldest fishing villages and a marina in Shavizvispirieti. In 1972-1978, in the village of Chitatskari, on the edge of Anaklia, the pre ”Kolkhuri” burial ground "Dikha-Gudzuba II" was excavated, where life was flourishing in the 6th century. In written sources, Anaklia is mentioned only from the end of the 17th century, but its history is much older.

Researcher T. Promodi in the book "History of Black Sea Trade and Genoese New Buildings in Crimea" published in Paris in 1848, Primodi writes: "The Genoese occupied important places on the coast of Samegrelo. They had their administration in Sebastopol (ancient Dioscuria). In Anaklia, which is located between Phasis and Sebastopol, they founded their settlement with a fortress, the ruins of which still dazzle travelers today. Thus, in the 14th and 15th centuries, Anaklia was a trading post and fortress of the powerful Italian city-state of Genoa.

According to the letter of the French Catholic missionary, Louis Grangier, who visited Samegrelo in 1615, Anaklia was marked on the Turkish map of the second half of the 17th century and on the French map drawn by the geographer Sanson at the end of the same century.

In his "Description of the Black Sea" written in 1704, Peter Tolstoy mentions Anaklia next to the important marinas on the Black Sea coast, which he calls "Mingrelskaya Golfa Anakra".

The Italian Catholic missionary Giuseppe Zampi wrote in 1674: "Now a man cannot be fearless, there is always the fear of the fall of the Abkhazians. Even the ships that used to come to Kavros and Morbilla are now going to Anargia because of fear."

According to the Turkish traveler Evliya Cheli, who visited Samegrelo in 1640, merchant ships came to Samegrelo in July and during harvest. They brought salt, utensils, ironware, weapons and exchanged them for lime, honey, honey candles and girls and boys.

Jean Chardin (1643-1713) writes that "every year there come here about twelve sailing ships from Constantinople and Kaffa, and more than sixty feluccas from Gonio, Iris, and Trebizond. In addition to the captives, they are loaded with silk, flax thread, canvas and flax seeds, bull skins, mare and beaver fur, boxwood, wax and honey in Samegrelo. "A large number of foreign trade ships that arrived in Samegrelo used the Anaklia harbor.

The second name of Anaklia, Anarkia, is related to the motif of trade in captives (Anna Rkiani means Ana Hkivi, Alnarkia means a place where people are screaming).

In 17th-18th century Italian sources, Giovano Giuliano, Archangelo Lambert and Hippolyte Elio confirm that Anaclia was an episcopal center. Then there were the Turkish invasions to occupy Anakli.

In 1804, to the question of a Russian official - what do you know about Anaklia fortress? Besarion Chkondidel, Niko Dadian, Bezhan Dadian, Beri Gelovan, Grigol Chikovani and Pepua Faghava answered: "Anaklia was built by the ancestors of the Dadians and was a dock during the Dadians, as their deed also tells us, but it became empty due to the change of circumstances."

According to J. Gamba, the Russian army was stationed in Anaklia for several years, but then it was abandoned because it was considered a useless dock. Gamba was in Samegrelo in 1820.

Anaklia did not lose its importance as a marina and trade center even in the 19th century. On the map of 1804 ("the map of the part of Samegrelo"), Anaklia is marked as a city, and this should not be accidental. At that time, the city was called trading centers. This is where the word city comes from, which means trade, market in Georgian.

Between 1823 and 1838, the Russian government banned the passage of foreign ships twice, but in 1842, Levan V Dadian agreed with the Russian government to allow small foreign ships to enter Anaklia.

Trade in Anaklia became especially popular after the construction of the Zugdidi-Anaklia highway in the 80s of the 19th century. In the book "Samegrelo" published in 1883, Jean Mourier writes that only "20 inhabitants live in Anaklia, but it is a very important harbor for cargo ships. All the corn from the Zugdidi market to be sent abroad or to Odessa by sea flows here."

In 1895, in Dimitri Bokeria's letter " "the harbor is Anaklia", which was published in "Iveria" newspaper (N23), we read: "This small harbor is of great importance for Western Samegrelo, because one million feet of corn is transported abroad from here, and secondly, sawmills are located here. , who are always in need of a working man. Therefore, there are many workers and corn traders in Anaklia, among whom there are also foreigners. Foreigners here also showed us how much they have gone ahead of us and how skilled they are in making money: many Greeks who left their homeland empty-handed have acquired great wealth here." The trade activity of the Greeks in Anaklia is also confirmed by other sources. For example, the Greek Giorgi Kefalidi worked as a cashier for the purchase of corn for the "Kopa" company in Anaklia ("Record sheet" 1904. March 24).

The economic life of Anaklia at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries is described in detail. In Dgebuadze's letters, which were printed in a newspaper in 1904: "They take a lot of corn from this town to Russia and abroad via the Black Sea. The residents of this town are also very involved in trade... the local situation strongly supports the residents in such business, and thus giving and taking develops strongly." According to the same source, "most of the corn merchants in Anaklia are Tatars, who conscientiously and at a favorable price take corn from the residents and send it by sea. Recently, the buying and selling of nuts has become very popular. This year, 15,000 feet of hazelnuts were grown from this township and nearby villages. Local residents here in the village buy nuts for 3 Manats and they themselves sell them for 4.5 Manats. There are two or three sawmills near the sea, where the peasant earns work every day. The rent is one Manat. Many workers from Guria rush here..."

At the end of the 19th century, trade with foreigners in Anaklia became so popular that even one customs official could barely cope with his work (Gaz. "Iveria", 1898. N238).

In 1899, the merchant Bokuchava in Anaklia brought 30 carts of goods with a Turkish ship (Sandal) (Gaz. "Tsishtish Shtchi" 1899, N870).

In 1901, 82 ships entered the port of Anaklia. In the same year, Anaklia imported 330,105 feet and exported 632,604 feet of various goods.

In 1903, 54,000 feet of bread flour were unloaded at the port of Anaklia. 39,000 feet of salt, 15,000 feet of kerosene, 4,000 feet of cement and other goods. 130,000 feet in all, and 334,000 feet of corn, 53,000 feet of lumber and firewood, 6,000 feet of fruits and vegetables, 7,000 feet of fish. A total of 402,000 feet of miscellaneous goods. If in 1901 the town of Anaklia received 633 manats of income from the trade here, by 1909 the income amounted to 2282 Manats.

The Anaklians were also excellent shipbuilders. They were skilled in building different types of boats (Nishi, Ochkhomeli, Olechkander), as well as in building large ships. In 1816, Anakli craftsmen built several ships.

The whole of Samegrelo was rich in sakhomalde oak. In 1847, Crown Prince Mikhail Vorontsov wrote to Admiral Lazarev about this: "There is a high-quality oak forest in Samurzakano, on the Black Sea coast, between Abkhazia and Samegrelo, suitable for building ships."

Along with the growth of trade and crafts, the population of Anaklia also grew. If in 1885 According to J. Murie, there were only 20 inhabitants in Anaklia, according to the 1897 census, 178 people lived here.

According to the Radio "Atinati" column ("History of our corner"), the greatest philanthropist and merchant Dataya Chedia, who worked in the 11th half of the 19th century in Zugdidi, was distinguished by his special actions and initiative. He selflessly helped the needy and helped the students and young people to get education. This did not go unnoticed by Davit Dadian, the head of Samegrelo, and he gave him the title of nobleman. A special achievement of Dataya Chedia's work is the construction of a big bogazi, i.e. harbor, in Anaklia, at the mouth of the Enguri river, at the end of the 19th century. The harbor was small and a few feluccas, or small sailing ships, could approach it. But nevertheless, it was one of the important trading points of the Black Sea and it was marked by Ottoman merchants on the map of that time. Chestnut trees, walnut logs, leather, honey, corn, etc. were systematically transported from Anaklia to Trabzon, Istanbul, Cairo, Alexandria and Aleppo in small faluks. The caravan of small ships was led by Dataya Chedia himself. He perfectly mastered the management of the ship and taught this craft to others. Dataya Chedia died in 1904 and left a great legacy. Dataya's eldest son, Dimitri Chedia, graduated from Kazan University and became a Master of Pharmacy. He opened a pharmacy in Tsalenjikha, which functioned before the entry of the Bolsheviks. Dataya's youngest son, Nestor, was a great friend and associate of Niko Nikoladze. It is significant to remember the work of Dataya Chedia, because the idea of ​​building a harbor in Anaklia came to life with a new force.

TRACECA.GE