Anaklia

Anaklia ანაკლია
Village
Resort of Anaklia.
Anaklia Location in Georgia
Coordinates: 42°24′22″N 41°35′29″E / 42.40611°N 41.59139°E / 42.40611; 41.59139Coordinates: 42°24′22″N 41°35′29″E / 42.40611°N 41.59139°E / 42.40611; 41.59139
Country	Georgia
Region	Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
Population (2014)
• Total	1,331
Time zone	Georgian Time (UTC+4)

Anaklia (Georgian: ანაკლია) is a village and seaside resort in western Georgia. It is located in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, at the place where the Enguri River flows into the Black Sea, near the administrative border with Abkhazia.

The earliest settlement on Anaklia's territory dates back to the mid-Bronze Age and is typical to the Colchian culture. It is the Classical Heraclea of Colchis, Anaclia of later authors, and Anarghia of Archangelo Lamberti and Jean Chardin (both the 17th-century travelers). After the fragmentation of the Kingdom of Georgia in the 15th century, it was an important fortified town, sea port and fishing station within the Principality of Mingrelia. In 1723, the town was captured by the Ottoman Empire and converted into its maritime outpost and slave-trading locale. Western Georgian kingdom of Imereti regained control over Anaklia in 1770, seizing the opportunity of Ottoman Empire being at war with Russia (Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)). Solomon I, the king of Imereti, was supposed to be supported in this endeavor by a small Russian contingent under General Totleben, but the Russian troops retreated before a clash against the Turks.

In 1802, Kelesh-Bey Sharvashidze, the pro-Turkish ruler of the neighboring Principality of Abkhazia, capitalized on the internecine feuds in Mingrelia, and forced Prince Grigol Dadiani of Mingrelia into surrendering Anaklia, taking Grigol’s son and heir, Levan, as a hostage. When Mingrelia accepted the Russian protectorate in 1803, the Russian commander in Georgia, Prince Tsitsianov, demanded that Kelesh-Bey release Levan. On his refusal, Tsitsianov sent Major General Ion Rykgof into Abkhazia. In March 1805, the Russians took hold of Anaklia and threatened to march against Sukhum-Kaleh, forcing the Abkhazian prince to release Dadiani. The capture of Anaklia drew an Ottoman protest, however, and Tsitsianov hastened to disavow his subordinate and even apologize for his action, removing a Russian garrison from Anaklia. However, the incident added to an increasing tension between the two empires. When the next Russo-Turkish War broke out in 1806, the Russian forces restored Redoubt Kali and Anaklia to the Mingrelian prince Levan who would later relinquish the control of these forts to the Russian administration. (See Russian conquest of the Caucasus#Black Sea Coast.) In the 1850s, Anaklia was a small but strongly fortified seaport, which had a custom-house and carried on a considerable trade with Turkey. It had extensive suburbs, consisting of detached houses inhabited by Greeks, Jews, and Armenians. The population was around 600.