Sukhumi

Sukhumi or Sokhumi (Georgian: სოხუმი, [sɔxumi]; Abkhaz: Аҟәа, Aqwa; Russian: Сухум(и), Sukhum(i)) is a city in northwestern Georgia and the capital of Abkhazia. a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered significant damage during the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict in the early 1990s. The present-day population of 60,000 is only half the one at the end of the USSR era.

Naming

In Georgian, the city is known as სოხუმი (Sokhumi) or აყუ (Aqu), in Megrelian as აყუჯიხა (Aqujikha), and in Russian as Сухум (Sukhum) or Сухуми (Sukhumi). The toponym Sokhumi derives from the Georgian word Tskhomi/Tskhumi, meaning beech. It is significant, that "dia" in several dialects of the Georgian language and among them in Megrelian means mother and "skuri" means water. In Abkhaz, the city is known as Аҟәа (Aqwa) which according to native tradition signifies water.

In the ancient Greek sources (Pseudo-Skilak of Kariand- IV c. B. C. ) the city is referred to as Dioscurias. According to the antique traditions this name originates from the mythical Dioskouri, the twin brothers Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus. It was believed that the town had been established by Castor's and Pollux's coachmen, the Argonauts Telkius and Amphyst. However the names of the town may simply be the Greek comprehension of the old Georgian word combination.