Anaklia

The area around Anaklia was settled for the first time in the Middle Bronze Age. In the 16th century Anaklia was a relatively important city with a fortress, port and fishing center due to its favorable location at the mouth of the Inguri and the Black Sea.

Anaklia was already a popular bathing resort in Soviet times. But that changed after 1990, when the city was only a kilometer south of the now impassable border with Abkhazia. Around 2010, under the Saakashvili government, extensive expansion work began to develop Anaklia into a top seaside resort on the Black Sea. A lot of new architecture was created in the typical deconstructivist-absurd-kitschy style of Georgia at the time. The world’s longest wooden suspension bridge was built over the Inguri to build a new beach promenade north of the old settlement. A marina and numerous huge hotels were built. However, the tourist rush is still a long time coming.