New Athos Афон Ҿыц, ახალი ათონი, Новый Афон Afon Ch'yts, Akhali Atoni, Novy Afon
—  town  —
New Athos Monastery
location of New Athos within Abkhazia
Partially recognized independent country	Abkhazia
District	Gudauta
Government
• Mayor	Feliks Dautia
Population (1989)
• Total	26,636
Time zone	MSK (UTC+3)

New Athos (Abkhaz: Афон Ҿыц, Afon Ch'yts; Georgian: ახალი ათონი, Akhali Atoni; Russian: Новый Афон, Novy Afon) is a town in the Gudauta raion of Abkhazia, situated some 22 km from Sukhumi by the shores of the Black Sea. The town was previously known under the names Nikopol, Acheisos, Anakopia, Nikopia, Nikofia, Nikopsis, Absara, Psyrtskha. New Athos Cave is one of the tourist attractions of Abkhazia.

St. Simon the Canaanite church in the New Athos (VI-VIII cc.)

History[link]

A large ancient Greek port town of Anacopia was recorded there in the 3rd century. Its ruins are still visible. In the 5th century, Georgians ^[1] built a fortress on the top of the Iverian Mountain. Anacopia was the capital of the Abkhazian princedom in the orbit of the Byzantine Empire and then of the Abkhazian Kingdom after the archon Leon II declared himself a king in the late 8th century. Later, the capital was moved to Kutaisi.

Anacopia was ceded to Byzantine Empire by Demetre in 1033 but was retaken by Georgians in 1072 among the other territories Georgia gained as a result of the Empire's defeat at Manzikert at the hands of Seljuks.

Administration[link]

On 8 May 2003, Vitali Smyr was appointed Minister for Agriculture and released as Mayor of New Athos.^[2] On 19 May, Feliks Dautia was appointed his successor.^[3]

List of Mayors[link]

Monastery[link]

In 1874 Russian monks from the overcrowded Rossikon Monastery on Mount Athos arrived to the Caucasus in order to find a place for possible resettlement. They feared that the Ottoman Empire would oust the Russians from Athos after the outbreak of the impending Russo-Turkish War. They selected Psyrtskha, and the Neo-Byzantine New Athos Monastery, dedicated to St. Simon the Canaanite, was constructed there in the 1880s with funds provided by Tsar Alexander III of Russia. Eventually Russian monks were permitted to stay in the "old" Athos, and the New Athos monastery had much less occupancy than anticipated.

In 1924, during the Soviet persecution of religion, the monastery was closed. It was later used as a storage facility, tourist base, hospital and museum. Its return to the Orthodox Church began in 1994, after the end of the war.

Psyrtskha railway station

The scenic setting of the New Athos monastery by the sea has made it a popular destination with Russian tourists visiting Abkhazia.^[4]

Hydroelectric power station[link]

New Athos contains a small hydroelectric power station and artificial lake on the river Psyrtskha, close to the old Church of St. Simon the Canaanite. The station was built in 1902 and repaired in 1922. It remained broken for over forty years before being repaired again — it is due to be re-opened on 4 June 2012. It will produce an estimated 100 kW per hour for the monastery, which it is owned by.^[5]

See also[link]

• Mount Athos

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: New Athos

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (January 2009)

Coordinates: 43°05′30″N 40°48′00″E / 43.09167°N 40.8°E / 43.09167; 40.8

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v t e Administrative divisions of Abkhazia Districts Gagra Gali Gudauta Gulripsh Ochamchira Sukhumi Tquarchal Cities Sukhumi Towns Gagra Gali Gudauta New Athos Ochamchira Pitsunda Tkvarcheli Other settlements Adzyubzha Avadhara Bedia Bzyb Chkhalta Chuburkhindji Gulripsh Guma Gyachrypsh Ilori Kvemo Barghebi Labra Lykhny Myussera Pskhu Psou Tsandryphsh See also: Administrative divisions of Georgia