Alakhadzi: Hotels and accommodations

Alakhadzi is located on the western side of the Pitsunda Cape near Gagra. The town’s beach is described as being more than 6 km long and up to 80–90 m wide. Those wishing to book a hotel in Alakhadzi can then continue their accommodation search.

Location

Alakhadzi is described as a settlement on the main road between Gagra and Pitsunda. The approximate distances are 13 km from Gagra and 10 km from Pitsunda. Regular minibuses and the option of traveling by taxi are reported.

History

Alakhadzi was the site of the Genoese trading post of Santa Sofia. A large early medieval settlement with a seaport may have been located in the Alakhadzi area.

Architecture

Temple No. 1 measured approximately 50 × 28 meters externally. Limestone and sandstone blocks and slabs, as well as ceramic plinth bricks, were used for its construction. It was a three-nave basilica with three projecting apses, was destroyed by fire, and is dated to the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century. The temple was described as the largest temple in Abkhazia and the Caucasus.

2 was built on the site of Temple No. 1 after its destruction. It was converted from a church with three apses into a church with one apse; in the process, a stone vault replaced the earlier wooden roof structure. An archaeomagnetic analysis dates it to the late 8th or early 9th century. The second and third basilicas of the Alakhadzi complex are generally dated to the 8th century.

3 is a heavily ruined cross-domed church. It had three apses and a narthex that occupied the entire width of its western side.

Religious traces

The sacred complex of Alakhadzi is considered important for the study of early Christian buildings at the Pitsunda Cape. In Abkhazian, Alakhadzi translates as “fig spring.” Akhashnykha is described as a stone sanctuary, a church, or an icon. According to reports, ruins of temples have been preserved in the area of Akhashnykha.

Excavations at the Alakhadzi temple site took place in 1970–1971 and again in 1985–1986. The Akhashnykha locality is located approximately two kilometers from the seacoast.

More destination pages: Lidzava, Pʼsirtsʼkha, Abgara, Machara, Merkheuli, Miusera, Aatsi, Sukhumi.

To the higher-level travel overview: Abkhazia.