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New Athos - town in Abkhazia

New Athos Monastery New Athos (or Novy Afon) is a town on the Black Sea Coast of Abkhazia, northwest of Sukhumi.

Understand

Town exists since the 3rd century when it was a large ancient Greek port town of Anacopia. And its ruins still could be found in outskirts of New Athos.

The town is named after Mount Athos, an autonomous monastic territory in Greece, where the founders of the local monastery resettled from in 1874.

Get in

By bus

By bus from Sukhumi (, 20 km, 45 min), Gudauta (17 km) and 84 km from the Russian border at Vesyoloye, near Sochi.

Bus stop, 43.08455°, 40.81178°. All buses are transiting through the town. They make a stop at this bus stop.

By train

Get around

See

Anakopia fortress Ptsyrtskha Railway Station Remains of Soviet sculpture in the park of New Athos

  • New Athos monastery, 43.088055°, 40.82118°. Established by Russian monks who came from Mt. Athos in Greece at the end of 19th century.
  • New Athos Caves, 43.09058°, 40.81014°. Summer Tu-Su, rest of the year - W Sa. There are a number of karst caves, including Athos Cave opened in 1961. There is a small tourist train passing through caves.
  • Ruins of an ancient temple and Anakopia fortress, 43.094444°, 40.807778°. Ruins of the 8th-century fortress of Anakopia (8th-century capital of Abkhazia). There is a good paved road uphill, it takes about an hour to get to the top.
    • Temple of Theodor Tiron. The first church on top of the Anakopia mountain was built in 6th and 7th centuries and was dedicated to Virgin Mary. However, it was rebuilt in the 11th century and became being dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr Theodore of Tyrone. Which is evidenced by epigraphic monuments found in the citadel. Besides, temple still operates now and there is a copy of the Iberian Icon of Mother of God, while the original is kept in the Iberian monastery on Mount Athos, Greece.
    • Ruins of the 19th-century chapel.
  • Church of St. Simon the Zealot, 43.0905°, 40.8164°. Built in the 10th century AD on the same spot where, according to the legend, St. Simon the Zealot was killed. 11th-century frescoes were discovered under a layer of church plaster.
  • Grotto of St. Simon the Zealot, 43.09548°, 40.81445°.
  • Ptsyrtskha railway station, 43.09186°, 40.81575°. Old Soviet railway station, heavily damaged now but still shows signs of its previous glory.
  • Park of New Athos, 43.08480°, 40.81547°. Famous seaside park with a system of ponds, fed by the waters of the river Psyrtsha.
  • Stalin's summerhouse, 43.0886°, 40.8236°.
  • Waterfall, 43.09117°, 40.81654°. Waterfall and a power plant built in 1902.

Museums

Further afield

  • Old steam locomotive. It was used by the monks of the New Athos monastery for transportation of timber in the late 19th century.

Do

  • Swim in the sea at local Akhali Atoni Beach

Buy

Eat

Drink

  • Local wine
  • Beer: Sukhumskoe Pivo

Sleep

Connect

Go next

New Athos

Postal code:6900Date Time:Please wait...Timezone:Asia/TbilisiPopulation:1,539Coordinates:43.09, 40.80

Abkhazia

Primary administrative division

Georgia

Population:3.7 MDial code:+995Currency:Lari (GEL)Voltage:220 V, 50 Hz