Anacopia Fortress
649 reviews
July 28, 2024
The eastern tower of the Anakopian fortress on the mountain. Inside there are stairs up to the observation deck. It's cool inside and you can take a break from the heat. At the top there is a view for many kilometers around. Far to the right, even the outlines of the Sochi Olympic facilities are visible on the horizon!
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3
November 20, 2024
The road is not the easiest, but it's worth it!Gorgeous views open up, Be sure to go to the temple Charming atmosphere The water in the spring is delicious But it is not easy to get it, Lower the bucket on the chain and "scoop " them take bottles with you
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January 9, 2024
A place worth visiting.It is located near the New Athos cave.You can walk, but it will be difficult for untrained people.The height difference is small, but the road to the fortress is not easy, sometimes rocky.Along the road on the right and left there are beautiful gardens, in which in winter there are trees whose branches are strewn with tangerines, oranges and lemons.Cows and horses walk along the road, however, as everywhere in Abkhazia.You can get to the ticket office by car.Entrance is paid.The view from the fortress is beautiful, beautiful photos are obtained.There is a spring near the fortress, you can drink water from it.There is a very steep staircase in the tower itself when climbing up, you need to be very careful.
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3
1
November 17, 2024
It is a very beautiful and prayed-for place, the power of the prayers of our ancestors is felt
I strongly advise you to get there, find yourself at an altitude of 2500 above sea level and see all the beauty!
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July 15, 2024
Just the most gorgeous view of the sea and New Athos. Of course, to see this beauty you will have to climb the mountain along the serpentine path with a different slope of ascent. From the parking lot and there is an entrance through the ticket office to the reserve, the path will take about 30-40min, but it's worth it.
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3
July 29, 2024
I advise everyone who will visit this place in Abkhazia, do not be afraid of the height and ascent, the place simply fascinates with its antiquity and its beauty. It's very beautiful, especially if you want to touch the past.
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October 8, 2024
It is a beautiful place, it is high, the climb is long, there are benches along the road where you can relax. For when you finally get up, you will have a wonderful view. I recommend a visit.
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June 20, 2024
It's a beautiful place. I thought it would be difficult to climb, but the climb is quite comfortable. Inside there is an ancient church and an inexhaustible well. There is a view of the domes of New Athos. The view is mesmerizing. The tops of the domes shine and sparkle in the sun.
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2
August 24, 2024
It's beautiful, but the way up can be difficult - a good slope, rocks, in hot weather, do not forget to grab some water and relax in the shade. The views are amazing, and we also met a cat family, it's always nice :)
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3
August 1, 2024
If you are strong enough to climb to the top of Anakopia, do not forget to go out to the observation deck of the east tower. It offers stunning views of the sea and the city.
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1
June 21, 2024
We were in New Athos and decided to climb to the ruins of the Anakopian fortress. I must say right away - it's better to go up there early in the morning or in the evening (when it's not very hot). How magnificent the views are, it's so hard to get there... (well, or my wife and I are out of shape)) The climb is really quite difficult - on foot uphill along a stone road that winds in a serpentine along the mountainside. I am glad that an "inexhaustible" well awaits you at the top, which allows you to quench your thirst and wash after climbing. One last push remains - and now you have climbed the tower. It is difficult to find words to describe how beautiful the view of the sea, the mountains, the city with the monastery is... I want to sit on a bench and admire this beauty. Do not deny yourself this pleasure, stay there for a while and just look around... We also stayed a little longer and realized that for the sake of such beauty, it was worth coming here and climbing.
As a result, the whole adventure took us about 2 hours (it was easier to go down, but I didn't want to at all)) you need comfortable shoes, at least a minimum supply of water for the ascent and, probably, a sunscreen will not hurt)) Have a good experience!)))
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3
October 9, 2024
An interesting place, beautiful views of the city of New Athos and its surroundings. I thought climbing the Iverskaya Mountain would be more difficult, but it turned out not to be so. I got there fine. There is a lot of vegetation, which saves from the heat when climbing.
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3
August 2, 2024
The Anakopian fortress, wonderful places, rose very quickly and easily, I really liked it, it's nice to touch the history.
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December 2, 2024
Entrance is paid, before the ascent, at the beginning of the way, the cash register is cashed or on the card)). There are no garbage cans, it is possible to sit down only at the very beginning of the climb, then only at the first turns between the large boulders there is a board-sit down)). In the well, which is called the Spring, there are worms in the water. Fortunately, they did not have time to drink.
Shoes must be comfortable, because if it rains, you slip on the roots and cobblestones once or twice.
The view from the fortress is certainly fascinating. The review is gorgeous. If you are lucky with the weather, you will get a lot of positivity from such beauty.
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May 1, 2023
It is located on the top of a mountain, at an altitude of 350 meters above sea level. You can climb to the very top of the tower. It offers a magnificent view of New Athos and the mountain range. There is a church built by Greek monks. Services are not conducted, it is revered as a "place of power". There are many icons inside. Unfortunately, time and weather have destroyed the frescoes. An elderly man is sitting near the entrance, you can buy candles from him and take a handkerchief, if you think it necessary. In 2023, the entrance to the fortress for an adult is 200 rubles, for a child-100 rubles.
Attention!!! There are no toilets on site! The climb from the ticket offices to the fortress is quite steep, along a stone uneven road, no heels! Take water with you. It is better not to take children!
In addition, before walking up to the ticket office from the city, soberly assess your strengths and capabilities. We are middle-aged, without problems with our legs and bad habits, we got up calmly. There were people who reached the ticket offices on foot, but did not reach the top.
It takes no more than 5 minutes to get to the entrance by car from the city. Everything is very close.
Py. Sy. Look carefully at your feet. The whole ascent to the fortress is in the fresh waste products of some kind of living creatures.
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5
August 18, 2024
Beauty, it was normal for me to climb the mountain, but some people really complain that they are lazy and say that it's hard, but I wouldn't say that, there is a holy place that is on top, we really liked it, there is a holy spring on top
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3
July 31, 2024
If you came here, well done..... you are an athlete and saw the best view of Abkhazia and a new iPhone! The Council... it is better to go back down the goat trail ...... 😀
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3
August 3, 2024
I recommend taking a taxi to the fortress itself. Then climb up the rocky, serpentine road on foot. From the top there are stunning views of Abkhazia.
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January 5, 2024
A gorgeous place!
I definitely advise everyone to visit this tower! The road from the parking lot will take 30 minutes on foot!
On the observation deck, there is a stunning panorama of everything around!
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3
June 23, 2024
A very ancient fortress, you need to see it if you are here, an old monastery, a pilgrimage place especially for Orthodox believers, cleanses the soul and you will know the world!!!!!
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3
August 10, 2024
There is something to see, plan at least half a day to visit these places. You can take a lot of beautiful and fascinating photos.
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3
October 28, 2024
If you have climbed the top of the mountain, then the last leap to the tower is definitely worth it. It is from the tower that the most gorgeous view will be. As well as moral satisfaction from the work done
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January 20, 2024
The Anakopian fortress is beautiful, probably the highest point of new Athos with a view of the entire coastline. A good observation deck, clean, beautiful, there are benches and a well with water
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3
July 30, 2024
Every time we are in New Athos, we climb the Iverskaya mountain and the observation deck of the tower. View of Mount Athos in the palm of your hand
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1
August 20, 2024
The nature is wonderful!!! Unfortunately, the local government is not engaged in the improvement of these historical sites... But only earns money at the entrance. It's a pity!!!🙊
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1
October 3, 2024
The climb is not easy, but it's worth it. The view is amazing. New Athos, as in the palm of your hand. Mope, mountains, beauty...
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June 5, 2024
Amazing view! We rose at dusk, the tower is illuminated, and when we descended, we were accompanied by armies of fireflies, it is incredibly beautiful and romantic)
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3
March 15, 2024
A great place to visit. You can look at New Athos from a height. The story is in every stone, it is recommended to visit!!! There is a spring and a temple on site.
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3
September 10, 2024
It's a picturesque place, but to get up, especially if it's warm and the sun is shining, kapets, be patient and strong!
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2
September 5, 2024
A very beautiful view opens from this fortress, it is better to go by car for those who do not like to walk for a long time.
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August 9, 2024
One of the advantages is the thick walls of the tower itself, it feels reliable. One of the disadvantages is that for some reason the inexhaustible well was empty or we could not lower the bucket on the chain low. The view from the tower to the sea and the city is cool!
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September 30, 2024
Very beautiful
We walked up from the sea
The road is not easy
There was also a bee sting
And so super
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3
September 14, 2024
It's a beautiful place. It's a long climb, but it's worth it. We went up from the parking lot at the ticket offices into the cave. Views from the observation deck on the cosmos tower.
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July 30, 2022
The most interesting historical landmark of Abkhazia is the Anakopian fortress, located on the mountain of the same name (the second name is Iverskaya Mountain) of New Athos. It is a crime for a tourist not to visit it. The words of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov are best suited here: "Anyone who has visited New Athos and has not visited the Iverskaya Mountain is like someone who has been to Rome and has not seen the pope in the Vatican."
The height of the mountain is 344 meters, but along a good, serpentine road with picturesque surroundings, the hour-long climb looks like a historical walk.
A little PI (clear story)
Amīcus certus in re incertā cernĭtur "lat. - A faithful friend is recognized in the wrong business"
The Roman Empire in the first centuries of our era brought stability, security and civilization to the local peoples of Western Transcaucasia. (sounds like a Senate-commissioned PR article)
Using Greco-Roman fortification technologies, the Romans built fortresses to control the area where the legionary garrisons were stationed.
Under the "wise leadership" of Rome at the beginning of the 2nd century AD, the tribes of the highlanders "state-formed" into the kingdoms of the Apsils, Abasgs (ancestors of the Abkhazians), Sanigs, Zikh, receiving preferences and military protection.
The economy and trade have gone up the hill. The local kings organically fit into the transit slave trade, and then became emboldened and moved to Roman fortresses, fortunately the patrons did not resist this.
The narrative comes to mention our fortress (then unnamed), which was founded here in the 2nd century AD. Then it was a stronghold of the numerous Sanig people, which was later conquered/assimilated by the Abasgians.
In the 3rd-4th century AD, the nomadic tribes of the Goths, Huns and Highlanders from the north looked here for a spark, but the legionnaires lined up like a "turtle" and scared the "guest performers". By the way, the Abkhazian kingdoms did not pay tribute to Rome for their help in controlling mountain passes from invasions from the north.
At the end of the 4th century AD, the Roman Empire said, literally, "I'm tired, I'm leaving," dividing into Western and Eastern (Byzantium).
Now the territory of Abkhazia was "protected" by the Romans with an office in Constantinople. Abasgia was considered a vassal state and consisted of two regions with Basileus rulers. Relations with the locals, as under the Romans, were businesslike and paternally warm.
Our fortress is already mentioned in the Byzantine chronicles as Trachea, which means "severely rocky" in Greek.
In the 5th century, things were not so good for Byzantium, as the empire began to butt heads with the Sassanid Empire (future Persia) for military and political dominance.
And in the 6th century, the war began on the Caucasian front of the Colchian direction. Emperor Justinian, realizing the seriousness of the situation, decided to "tighten the screws" and limit the former mountain freedom.
But, "there was a smell of kerosene" and in 543 the Byzantines temporarily withdrew a "limited contingent of troops" from Abkhazia.
The local kings of Abasgia, dumbfounded by freedom, completely unbuckled and said something like this: - "Now you do not order us, we will not share khachapur and the Black Sea bull with anyone. We will live according to the laws of our ancestors. Death to tyrant kings, Roman hangers-on! Freedom!!!! etc."
Moreover, they, Christians, converged in diplomatic ecstasy with Muslim Persia, which was, in the opinion of Byzantium, very dishonorable. Truly, it is true to say - "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Looking ahead, I note that the troops of the new allies, for a number of reasons, did not reach the rebellious abasgues, so the "knife in the back" of Byzantium turned out to be made of soft low-carbon steel.
The Tracheal Battle
The founding Fathers decided to punish the presumptuous flock and sent a punitive expeditionary force of land and naval forces led by the Byzantine strategist Bess of Thrace.
Byzantine cunning is a byword, therefore, after a series of maneuvers and landing from landing ships, they seized the combat initiative and defeated the freedom-loving Abasgians.
The remnants of the highlanders tried to take refuge in the citadel of the Trachea fortress, but the Byzantines quickly broke into the fortress...
Operation Pacification has been completed. The Abaza ruler and military commander, the leader of the "rebellious nobility" – Opsita emigrated to the north. The Byzantines abolished the power of local rulers and subordinated Abazgia to Constantinople. "There will be no Kina..."
The second defensive line of the Trachea
At the behest of the Byzantine Emperor, in the last quarter of the 6th century, the second defensive line of the Anakopian fortress with a total length of 1 km was completed. The most powerful was the southern wall with seven towers every 30-60 m.
But, after a protracted war with Persia, Byzantium decided not to place garrisons in the Caucasus - there were not enough personnel and it was expensive. The relevance of the region has decreased, therefore, the fullness of power, with external formal management, has passed to the local nobility and tsars.
The Arab-Abkhaz conflict
While Byzantium and Persia were fighting with each other, the Arab caliphate "blitzkrieged" through the Middle East. And in the 30s of the 8th century, the "faithful" decided to take up the Caucasus.
The Arabs were opposed by the "axis countries" - Byzantium, Abasgiya, Khazaria.
The new "overseer" of Transcaucasia, Murvan ibn Muhammad (the Armenians called him "the destroyer"), with a 120,000-strong Arab army, began to pacify the regions of Eastern Georgia, Armenia and Khazaria.
In 736, one of the punitive expeditions to the Kartli kingdom (modern Georgia) took place to extort tribute and "take revenge on the unreasonable Khazars", who, at the invitation of local kings, sent the governor of the Caliph Jarakh to the Gurias.
Seeing such sad layouts, the Kartli rulers Mir and Archil retreated, spurring their horses to their neighbors, the Abasgami.
Using the persecution of the fugitives as an excuse, the Arabs invaded Abkhazia and, capturing ancient Sebastopolis (Sukhum) along the way, approached the Anakopian fortress with 60 thousand troops.
When they saw the impregnable fortress, they pulled at their beards and, deciding that haste was only needed when catching fleas, they camped. The siege lasted for 6 months, the Arabs "in numbers equal to a dark cloud of locusts and mosquitoes" were opposed by defenders - 1,000 Georgians and 2,000 Abkhazians, led by the Abkhazian Prince Leon (uncle of the future Abkhazian king Leon II).
Repeated assaults, starvation and post-traumatic syndrome almost overpowered the defenders of the stronghold. All that remained was to pray...
The chronicles say: "On the night before the battle, the besieged in the fortress knelt before the icon of the Anakopian Virgin and prayed for salvation. And they heard "...
Either the churchkhela was spoiled, or the baklava was spoiled by a weevil, or the cook washed his feet in sherbet, or they ate figs with dirty hands, but the fact remains that an epidemic of unknown stomach ailments began in the Arab camp, which mowed down 35,000 combatants in a few days.
I have met versions that it was the plague, but to me, the cholera version seems quite reasonable.
The defenders were inspired by the sounds from the enemy latrines and decided to counterattack.
It was not comfortable for the Arabs to fight in soiled trousers, so the surviving foes retreated, never to return to Abkhazia. (to this day, the mention of this mountainous country causes a laxative effect in some descendants of the conquerors)
What happened next
After the victory, a lot of wine was drunk. At the end of the 8th century, the Abkhazian ruler Leon II declared himself the Abkhazian king, and made Anakopia the capital of the Abkhazian kingdom. The golden age has begun...
In the 13th century, the Genoese sailed here, founded a trading post and began a lively trade, including slaves.
In the 15th century, the Turks came and drove out the Genoese. The three-century persecution of Christians, the ruin, the sale of Abkhazians into slavery and the violent Islamization of the population began.
The role of Anakopia as an administrative and religious center has been lost. The fortress was deserted.
In the second half of the XVIII century, the place was a ruin overgrown with dense forest, where vultures built nests and wolves raised offspring...
That's the end of the fairy tale tour...
The inexhaustible spring on the mountain is an ancient cistern with a capacity of 75 cubic liters. There is no exact answer to the question of where the water comes from.
In 2008, during the restoration work, the well was cleaned. They pumped out the water, raked out three cubes of garbage and Soviet coins and began to conduct surveillance.
Gradually, the walls of the tank began to get wet and after two months 10 cm of condensate collected. In addition to condensate, water comes from cracks in the vault, during rains and snowmelt.
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3
May 23, 2023
A very wonderful and colorful piece of history, beautiful nature and beautiful views, there is an opportunity to walk and enjoy the picturesque locations. I recommend you to visit.
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3
August 25, 2024
It's beautiful! And a good warm-up) Be sure to take a container for water from the well with you
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June 21, 2024
A very beautiful place! There is a holy spring and a place for prayer. You can buy candles for 20 rubles and pray.
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3
July 26, 2024
Very beautiful views!simply mesmerizing beauty from the height of this
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July 23, 2023
The view is gorgeous, of course, if you love nature and height, walk to the tower itself for 40 minutes if it's hard in the heat, because only where at the beginning and at the end there is a shade, entrance is paid, you can walk yourself or you can wait for a group or order an individual guide, there is a well at the top where you can drink cold water, as well what kind of observation deck is there for a fee , but we did not take it , there is no point in seeing everything from the central one anyway
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April 26, 2024
The view is super for the whole area, I definitely advise you to visit. The only thing is that inside the tower there is a very steep staircase and at the end you can hit your head
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1
July 11, 2023
Be sure to visit this place, how beautiful it is, on a large scale, we got halfway by taxi, then on foot, do not be afraid that it is high, you can walk quietly, but then you will admire the view. Recommend.
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August 27, 2024
I recommend a good place, the view is gorgeous! Wear good shoes
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July 27, 2024
Super place, beauty. We did not reach 350m on the navigator, my wife was blown away by the cliff, came out, almost on the move, I had to turn around.
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April 29, 2022
A beautiful and atmospheric place with views of the mountains and the sea, as well as the valley of New Athos. In the absence of fog, the views are simply awesome. The fortress is small at the top. The climb is quite difficult and therefore it is advisable to choose comfortable shoes. Take an empty bottle with you or with water that you can use when climbing. There is an inexhaustible source above. The water is delicious. At the end of April, the entrance to the territory is 200 rubles. per person
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February 17, 2023
A great place for a relatively small hiking trip combined with a salted place and ancient buildings. A well with clean water on site and beautiful views of the surrounding area and Mount Athos
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3
July 1, 2024
This is the highest point in the New iPhone. The views are incredible. I do not recommend going upstairs to elderly people in the middle of the day. I saw the unfortunate people sitting along the road. It is better to go early in the morning or late in the evening. The road is not easy because of the slope and rocks.
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September 22, 2023
A very picturesque and beautiful place, a lot of beautiful views, beautiful ruined castles create a very pleasant atmosphere, I advise everyone to visit there
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4
July 29, 2024
Before going there, we thought a little, but is it worth it? But as they rose, the views from above overshadowed everything, both fatigue and heat.
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August 9, 2023
The complex of structures of the Anakopian fortress is fascinating. Think about comfortable shoes, also keep in mind that after buying a ticket you will have an exciting hour-long uphill climb, but it is definitely worth it. I do not recommend this lift to people with limited health opportunities, toddlers and the elderly. The fortress itself is almost completely in its original dilapidated state, and a new model is already appearing in some places.
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3
September 14, 2023
It is better to get to the ticket office by taxi, it is difficult to overcome the whole climb on foot. There is a well on the territory of the fortress. The place is wonderful, the views are very beautiful!
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3