Apsny wine is another pride of Abkhazian winemakers, along with Lykhny. The term "Apsny" itself is translated as "country of the soul" and is the self-name of Abkhazia. This red semi-sweet table wine with a strength of 9-10%, made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Saperavi grapes, has been produced since 1970. The drink received the gold medal of the Moscow International Forum in 2001, several grand prix and other awards at international competitions.

The label of Apsna flaunts the image of a man with a wine horn - this is the “Bomborsky wine-drinker”, a statuette found by archaeologists on the territory of Abkhazia. The age of the relic is at least 4000 years, which means that winemaking in the country was developed already in the second millennium BC.

Apparently, they started making wine in Abkhazia even earlier - about 8 thousand years ago, since the shards of wine jugs found during excavations date back to 6 thousand BC. These vessels were filled with wine and buried in the ground, where the drink ripened, enriched with additional flavors and aromas. Today, this technology has survived only in the Georgian region of Kakheti.

Characteristics. Apsny wine has a sweet-tart rich taste with a slight sourness. The bouquet will not break up into separate notes, but is perceived as one harmonious whole, in which shades of blackcurrant and a pronounced taste of natural grapes are well felt.

The subtlety and “smoothness” of the bouquet is largely determined by technology, since the wine does not contain additives and is included in the category of naturally sweet varieties. It is curious that the director of the Sukhumi winery, Nikolai Achba, is the grandson of the famous Abkhazian winemaker and descendant of an ancient princely family, also Nikolai Achba. There is a legend that the director knows the family secret and successfully applies the old technique in production.

Despite the fact that the title of "prince of Abkhazian wines" firmly holds, it is believed that it is a sip of Apsna that allows you to truly feel the originality of the Abkhazian feast.

Production features

Apsny wine is produced only at the Sukhumi winery, which is part of the Wines and Waters of Abkhazia concern. The company has been operating since 1930, was reconstructed in 1999 and now boasts modern equipment.

Apsny is a natural semi-sweet wine, which means that sugar is not added to the drink, but the sweetest grape varieties are used. Berries are harvested at the very end of October when the maximum sugar content is reached. After the wine has gained the desired strength, the container with the must is cooled to 2-3 degrees, which interrupts the fermentation process. Thus, part of the natural sugar remains in the drink, and the wine acquires a particularly delicate taste.

How to drink Apsny wine

Abkhazian Apsny wine is cooled to 16-18°C before serving and drunk from classic red wine glasses. The drink goes well with grilled meats, grilled vegetables, cheeses, fruits and even hot dishes. An open bottle is recommended to be stored in the refrigerator for no longer than a day.

Red wine lovers warn that it is easy to lose count of glasses from Apsna: wine is easy to drink, and intoxication comes so gently and imperceptibly. Sometimes the effect of a feast appears only at the moment when an inexperienced taster tries to get on his feet.

Since Russia is the main market for Abkhazian wines, it is not difficult to find Apsny on the shelves of chain supermarkets. The cost of a drink is about $15, and in Abkhazia itself you can buy a bottle of semi-sweet red 2-3 times cheaper.

1. Abkhazia Abkhazian "Apsny" (means the country of the Aps).
2. Today's capital of Abkhazia - Sukhum, is more than 2.5 thousand years old.
3. In Abkhazian, the weapon "Abyar" (Abjar) in translation means "the cross of the father."
4. Andrew the First-Called and Simon the Zealot, the apostles who preached in Abkhazia.
5. The Gagra region of Abkhazia is famous for the shortest river - Reprua with very cold water, the deepest cave in the world - Voronya - is also located in the region.
6. Leon I was the 11th prince of Abazgia (Abazgia is an Abkhaz principality), he is also the founder of the Leonid dynasty.
7. In Georgia, such common names as Lasha and Amiran are of Abkhaz origin.
8. Abkhazians participated in the construction of the Hagia Sophia located in the city of Kyiv.
9. The author of the 1st Tunisian constitution in 1861 and the Prime Minister of Tunisia was a Mamluk of Abkhaz origin - Khaireddin Pasha.

10. Surprisingly, more than 80% of all Abkhazians live outside of Abkhazia.
11. The last battle between the tsarist troops and the united army of the Abkhaz-Adyghes - the Russian-Caucasian war was the battle at Krasnaya Polyana.
12. There are 54 letters in the Abkhazian alphabet.
13. The rite of air burial of the dead, which was among the Colchians in the era of the so-called. Colchis bronze, took place among the Abkhazians and Adyghes until the end of the 18th century.
14. The territory of modern Abkhazia is known for a large number of dolmens, of which there are more than 50.
15. Abkhazian dolmens such as Adamra (grave) and Psyun (house of the soul) are even older than the Egyptian pyramids.
16. The first monument to a monkey in the world was erected in 1977 in the capital of Abkhazia, Sukhumi, on the territory of the Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy of the Academy of Medical Sciences. The inscription on the pedestal of the monument to the experimental monkey reads: "Polio, yellow fever, typhus, tick-borne encephalitis, smallpox, hepatitis and other human diseases have been studied using experiments on monkeys."
17. Sukhumi Botanical Garden founded in 1838 is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the Caucasus.
18. In the Ochamchira district of Abkhazia, in the village of Adzyubzha, black Abkhazians live.
19. The highest point of Abkhazia is the top of Mount Dombay-Ulgen, 4046 meters above sea level.
20. Mao Tse Tung, who visited Stalin and his residence on the Ritsa, was shocked by the beauties of this mountain lake.
21. The city of Gal was founded by Ketsba Tlabganom - an Abkhaz long-liver who lived for 140 years.
22. Among all the republics of the USSR in terms of the number of centenarians per capita, Abkhazia was the record holder. In 1956, 2144 people lived in the ASSR, whose age was from 90 years and older. Of these, 270 were over 100 years old and 11 were over 120 years old.
23. The word "adjika" in Abkhaz means simply "salt".
24. The verbs "flaunt" and "bathe" in Abkhaz literally sound like: "show the horse" and "wash the horse."
25. The city of Tkuarchal and the city of Gudauta are the hero cities of the Republic of Abkhazia.
26. The daughter of the Khazar Khagan Virkhor was married to the Abkhazian king Leon II.
27. Abkhazia is the first country in the world in terms of the volume of fresh water per capita.
28. The largest lake Amtkal (in the Caucasus) was formed as a result of a mountain collapse when a strong earthquake occurred on October 3, 1891.
29. Abkhazian princess Mary Chachba was the exclusive model of Coco Chanel.
30. In 737, forty thousand Arab troops were defeated near the walls of the ancient capital of Abkhazia, Anakopia.
31. In the Sukhumi seaport in 1933, for the first time in the USSR, an electric ship was launched.
32. According to genetic characteristics, Abkhazians belong to two racial types: Pontids and Caucasians.
33. The Adyghe prince Inal in the 15th century united the Circassians within the framework of one state. After his death he was buried in Abkhazia (Inal-Kuba).
34. The anniversary of the 100th anniversary of football in Abkhazia was celebrated in 2008.
35. Abkhazia supplies Russia with about 1.5 thousand tons of honey per year.
36. The ancestors of the Abkhaz-Adygs were the Hattian tribes of the Abeshla and Kasks.
37. Every fourth inhabitant of Abkhazia is from Sukhumi.
38. New Athos - the most small city world with its own metro located in the New Athos cave.
39. In the film The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the scene of Holmes' fight with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls was filmed at the Gegsky Falls in Abkhazia.
40. The mother of Evliya Celebi, a famous Turkish traveler who spent more than 40 years traveling through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring states, was an Abkhazian.
41. In the Abkhazian village of Duripsh, N.S. Khrushchev, Fidel Castro, Ho Chi Minh.
42. From Sukhum to Turkey (Trabzon) the distance by sea is 245 km.
43. The cleanest coast on the Black Sea is in Abkhazia.
44. In order to hide their pain from enemies and even friends, the wounded Abkhaz warriors sang the "Song of the Wound".
45. Stalin was a big fan not only of the Abkhaz adjika, but also of Abkhaz dances.
46. ​​Not everyone knows that the famous Abkhazian tangerines were brought from Japan.
47. The Sultan of Egypt, who liberated the country from the influence of the Ottoman Empire, was a Mamluk of Abkhazian origin, Ali Bey el-Kebir.
48. The Abkhaz hundred of the Circassian cavalry regiment of the Wild Division in the First World War, for the liberation of their comrades (1 and 2 hundreds of the Tatar cavalry regiment) from snow captivity, was awarded a medal on the Vladimir ribbon for philanthropy. This is a single example in the history of wars.
49. Abkhazia is multinational, more than 150 nationalities live in it.
50. Azhyrnyhua (Day of creation of the world, renewal) is celebrated on January 14th. This day in Abkhazia is considered a non-working holiday.
51. Estonians live in the mountains of Abkhazia.
52. The football championship of Abkhazia is different from the Russian one. He never went through the "spring-autumn" system.
53. Mass sports in the Republic of Abkhazia such as football, boxing, wrestling.
54. An open white palm on a red background is a symbol of the Abkhazian statehood.
55. In Abkhazia, to this day, the custom is widespread, in which the groom himself and his bride's relatives should not be present at the groom's wedding.
56. Abkhazia is a country with an ancient wine-making history. Winemaking appeared here many millennia BC. e. This is the 2nd territory after the Middle East, where traces of an ancient civilization familiar with winemaking have been found.
57. The label of the wine "Apsny", includes the image of the "Bombora wine drinker"
58. The largest earthenware jar found to date in Abkhazia, buried in the ground with wine, has a height of 151 cm and a width of 98 cm. Its neck diameter is 37 cm and it holds approximately 200 liters of wine.
59. The term for which the president is elected in Abkhazia is 5 years.
60. The symbols of presidential power in the Republic are: standard, seal, saber and staff.
61. By tradition, the bride in the Abkhaz family does not talk to her husband's father.
62. There are no nursing homes in Abkhazia.
63. The average winter temperature in Abkhazia is +5 degrees, therefore, winter (Adzyn) is translated from Abkhazian as "Rainy time".
65. The Orthodox monasteries of Georgia in Chkondidi and Kumurdo were built by the Abkhazian kings George II and Leon III.
66. On the planet, only in Abkhazia there are more than 100 species of plants.
67. In 1839, at the invitation of General N. Raevsky, the artist I. K. Aivazovsky visited Abkhazia. His trip was made along the Black Sea on the ships "Silistria" and "Colchis", where he made a number of sketches and sketches, which became the foundation for the famous painting "Storm off the coast of Abkhazia".
68. Abkhazian weddings, by average standards, are attended by up to 1,000 people.
69. Abkhazian fir is the best New Year's Tree in Europe.
70. Abkhazians, after Ossetians, rank second in terms of the number of Heroes of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War per capita.
71. Before Columbus brought corn, Abkhazians cooked hominy from millet.
72. in Abkhazia - horse racing is the most popular and most visited sport.
73. Abkhazia has the same latitude as the French Riviera.
74. The average annual temperature in the capital Sukhum is +15. There are about 220 sunny days in a year.
75. In Abkhazia, as in China, there are also Great Wall. Its length stretches for 160 km, the number of towers reaches 2000.
76. The Mokva Cathedral, built by the Abkhazian king Leon III, is the largest five-nave cross-domed church in the Caucasus.
77. Sand lovers - In Abkhazia, sandy beaches are located in the interval from the river. Kodor to the river. Kintrish.
78. Saint Eustathius of Apsil is considered the protector and heavenly patron of Abkhazia.
79. On the slope of Mount Yashtkhua (near Sukhum), a site of primitive man was discovered, the oldest and largest in the territory of the former USSR.
80. According to the 2011 census, 49% of the population of Abkhazia will live in cities.
81. In the XIII - XIV centuries on the coast of Abkhazia, a number of Genoese trading centers were founded - trading centers.

82. The personal guard of the Byzantine emperor Justinian was mostly from the Abazgs (Abkhazians).
83. At the turn of the 4th-5th centuries in Egypt there was a Roman military unit called "Ala prima abasgorum" (The first cohort of the Abazgs).
84. For more than 90 years, the Circassian Guard, consisting of representatives of the Abkhaz-Adyghe peoples, has been engaged in the personal protection of the King of Jordan.
85. Endurs are fictitious inhabitants of Abkhazia, they were invented by Fazil Iskander, a classic of Soviet and Russian literature, an Abkhaz by origin.
86. In 2011, a monument to Chik, one of the heroes of Iskander's works, was erected on the Sukhum embankment.
87. For Faziliev's heroes, most of the adventures take place in mysterious city Muhusa, its location is an unsolved mystery to this day.
88. Almost all tourists in Abkhazia know about the Gegsky waterfall, but most have not heard anything about Shakuransky.
89. The wedding season in Abkhazia is autumn.
90. A building was built in Staraya Gagra without a single nail (now the Gagripsh restaurant).
91. Sukhumi airport has the best runway characteristics in the Caucasus.
92. 75% of the territory of Abkhazia is the spurs of the Main Caucasian Range. Forests occupy more than 55% of the republic's area.
93. The most common tree in the forests of Abkhazia is the oriental beech (54.5%). It often reaches a height of 55 m with a trunk diameter of 100-170 cm.
94. The name Khosta in Abkhazian sounds like "Boar River".
95. Over 170 mineral springs have been discovered in Abkhazia, many of which are thermal.
96. There are about 20 species of palms in Abkhazia.

97. Most of the Abkhaz of the Republic are bilingual. They speak Abkhazian and Russian.
98. In 1898, the world congress of doctors, held in Moscow, for its mild and humid climate, sea, ionized air, abundance of heat and sun, Sukhum was recognized as one of the best places for the treatment of lung diseases.
99. Abkhazians are very hospitable people.
100. In general, Abkhazia is a wonderful country.

EXPEDITION

TO THE LAND OF THE SOUL

Last year, the editors decided to make a traditional expedition to Abkhazia. After all, this land was enlightened by the light of Christ's faith long before the Baptism of Russia. But not only this called us on a long journey. For two decades now, the Abkhaz diocese has been without archpastoral care; there are five priests for more than 300,000 people. In connection with the unsettled status of the Abkhazian Church, rumors about some kind of ecclesiastical disturbances are constantly being heard from there. After the Soviet period, the spiritual enlightenment of this land is very difficult - and it is in great demand. Catholics have begun to show considerable activity here (over the past five years, the papal nuncio has come here twice for negotiations with the leadership of the republic), Turkish Islamic funds offer to build mosques in Abkhazia, calling a third of the inhabitants of the republic “their own”. In general, the situation is not easy. What the Orthodox in Abkhazia breathe today, how they survive, what they hope for, what they draw spiritual strength from - we decided to find out about all this on our own, having gone to the “land of the soul”, as the name of Abkhazia is translated, in August last year.

North South

Igor Ivanov:

Yes, there is something to do on the road from Syktyvkar - three thousand kilometers for memories of a quarter of a century ago and doubts; because, as the poet wrote, "for misfortune or fortunately, the truth is simple: never return to your former places." But all our lives we only do what we return.

So, our path with Mikhail lies in Abkhazia. Of course, before the trip, I had to hear warnings that it was unsafe there, almost shooting. We, of course, did not believe in this. From year to year Abkhazia becomes more and more habitual place of rest for Russians. But it’s hard for me, who once visited this flourishing land, to imagine that now this is a different country, that after the war there are still houses here and there with empty eye sockets and bullet marks on the walls, in the mountains, where in during the Soviet era, hermit monks hid, there were still a lot of anti-personnel booby traps ...

It was on the coast of the southern sea, in Abkhazia. In another country, not in this life, and probably because now it sometimes seems that it was not with me. That young man believed that his own fate was in his hands, and, apparently, showed promise - either as a future writer, or as a publicist - otherwise why on earth would he be invited to Pitsunda to participate in the seminar of the Literary Fund.

It was, as they say now, the “low season”: clouds were moving over the sea and a relict pine grove near the boarding house near the seashore made an alarming noise at night. In the early morning, a young man came down from his hotel room, swam in the pool, and then walked alone along the seashore, listening to the seagulls. Then, past the thickets of bamboo, I walked into the city to the telephone office - now I don’t even remember who I called then. And once he went to Sukhumi, and on the bus from the back pocket of his wide white trousers, all his documents, tickets and money were stolen from him. Together with a compassionate district police officer in the pouring rain, they traveled for a long time, as if in some kind of detective story, in search of a “plucker” in the local “Shanghai” ... They did not find it.

And now in Russia there is an unusual heat, which even the old people will not mention. In the capital, where you willy-nilly stop by on your way from North to South, from the car to the store for a bottle of mineral water I pick up small dashes: the first respite in the underground passage, the second - in the air-conditioned office (“Oh, sorry, I went in the wrong place!”) . But the mineral water in the shop is warm, and the seller makes a sad gesture: the refrigerator burned out from overload.

In general, the whole road to the Black Sea is in a molten haze - as if on a submarine. Friends send text messages: how are the fires? - say, in Voronezh region everything is on fire and fires have approached the federal highway, to which you answer that fires are more in the heads of lively journalists. On the sides there is a scorched steppe and giant heaps of coal sludge moving in the hot air, similar to the humps of lying dinosaurs. Lazy balls of tumbleweed slowly roll over the embankment of the highway, and in order to escape from the monotonous landscape, you can add speed, catch up with the rolling bush and run over it with a crunch.

Behind the dusty Don steppes - well-groomed, but just as groaning from the heat of the Kuban land; only when you finally climb the mountains, you sigh with a light chest. Mikhail, a native of the southern coast of the White Sea, on the Black Sea, in these parts, has not yet been, and I kept catching the moment when he first sees the expanse of the sea. But driving on the steep bends of the mountain road, this moment somehow missed.

And now we are already rolling along the Black Sea coast, passing seaside villages, crowded with motley crowds of vacationers, we drive into Sochi, which for three years has turned into a large pre-Olympic construction site. Here we fill a full tank: we were warned that gasoline "there" is not only more expensive, but also worse in quality. Finally - a border village with an unexpected name Vesyoloye. We stand at the tail of the long line at the border with Abkhazia. Even official guidebooks in Abkhazia report that you will have to stand at the customs. What to do if a narrow bridge with one lane in each direction leads across the border river Psou. The sun is burning. The temperature in the shade is over forty degrees, and if it weren’t for the air conditioner in the car, I don’t know how we northerners would have survived in this queue. Ice cream, which can be bought in numerous border shops along the road, does not save either - in the end you don’t eat it so much as you drink it up.

On the left, cool jeeps with “beautiful” Abkhazian license plates “777” and “555”, new varnished “Mercedes” and “Lexuses” of the “AAA” series are rushing past the queue, and there is no feeling that you are entering a republic drained of blood by war and blockade. From time to time traffic cops briskly drive by near the dejectedly roasting column of cars: “Everyone take it to the right!” - apparently, so that it would be more convenient for giant black SUVs with tinted windows to make swift jerks to its beginning from the tail of the queue. End of the working day; the head of the Abkhazian customs gets into his "fancy" BMW with a flashing light and goes to rest from the labors of the righteous. I try to remember - what does this remind me of so much?.. The thought that we did not agree on a meeting with anyone in Abkhazia, did not take care of the lodging for the night, in a word - as always. There are only a few priests in this whole small country, and can we catch them on the spot? Moreover, the sun tends to go down more and more, and in the evening, and if it is still in the dark, where to look for an overnight stay?

Mikhail Sizov:

It is a sin to leave a friend in trouble, but sitting in the car has become completely unbearable. “I’m going to buy ice cream,” I encouraged Igor and got out into the light of God. The store was two steps away. Inside it, enjoying the coolness from the air conditioner, onlookers roam, pretending to ask the price of goods. In the crowd I notice the only person who is here on business - he puts something from the counter into a bag. He is in a cassock and a monastic skullcap.

- Father, are you from the column, are you going to Abkhazia? I walk up to him without hesitation. In our Orthodox expeditions, “an angel to meet you” has become kind of like the norm - you will definitely meet a person who will tell you the way, the place to spend the night. We have a problem with overnight stays. We don't know anyone in Abkhazia, the only hope is that they will give us shelter in the New Athos Monastery. But is there an inn for pilgrims there? Maybe this clergyman knows?

For a long time I ceased to be surprised at iconic coincidences, but here I was amazed. Hundreds of cars in a column, dozens of shops along the roadsides - and in one of them I run into a person who is not only “in the know”, but also from the place where we are heading. Father Theophan turned out to be a resident of the New Athos Monastery. The abbot sent him to go to Russia, to buy some food, and in the store he bought these products.

- And what, in Abkhazia, there are problems with food? I ask the monk.

“We are fine with that,” he replied. – It’s just that there will be a big holiday in the monastery soon, many guests will arrive, including VIPs, as they say now, and we need to treat them to something that we don’t grow.

Word for word, another coincidence turns out - it turns out, without knowing it, we find ourselves on the patronal feast of the monastery, the main cathedral of which is consecrated in the name of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon. And since New Athos is the spiritual center of the republic, it will also be the main holiday of Orthodox Abkhazia. However, there is a downside for us: there are so many guests expected that all the places in the monastery hotel are already reserved.

“Don’t be upset,” Father Feofan reassured me. – The military helped us, they gave us army tents, now they are being set up for pilgrims.

Warmly saying goodbye to the monk, I hasten to please Igor. During this time, the column moved five meters. And the sun is hotter, already 55 degrees above the asphalt.

We stood in line for five hours. Finally, we hit the barrier. Igor goes to inspect the car, and I stomp on foot along the bridge over the border river Psou. From the current record heat, it has become completely shallow, and right under the bridge, an island covered with pebbles has come out of the water. I wonder who owns this piece of land - Russia or Abkhazia? If the river is considered neutral territory, then it turns out that it is no man's land?

I noticed a long time ago that any borders, whether state or administrative, evoke a strange feeling. Like they actually have some meaning. I remember once Igor and I made our way from Vashka to Pinega, went to the Verkolsky Monastery along the taiga path, along which pilgrims from the Zyryansk lands used to go in the old days. Here we have reached the line that separates the Komi and the Arkhangelsk land. The question is, what is the border in the taiga? Just a narrow clearing with the usual forest blocks, nothing special. But as soon as I went beyond this, in general, arbitrarily drawn line, I felt that I was in the "abroad". And the forest is somehow different, and even the sky overhead seems to have changed ...

In an ethnographic book, I once read how our people treated the surveying of arable land. On the one hand, everyone recognized the importance and necessity of this feature. On the other hand, they seemed to be afraid of her. According to popular superstitions, the boundary, that is, the border, was the habitat of field workers and their ugly children - mezhevichki and meadows, who ran along the boundary and caught birds for their "parents", that is, the dead. It was considered dangerous to fall asleep on the boundary - they say, the boundary worker will surely strangle the sleeping person. And if you are there at noon, then a certain midday can make you dizzy and drag you with you to unknown limits. I don’t know if they really believed in it or if they just told fairy tales to children. But the fact is that on the boundary, as in an unclean place, executions were carried out on criminals. Where did a father usually drag his naughty son to be whipped? On the border. In another corner of God's land, it was kind of shameful to torture a person.

These are the boundaries of the earth. What can we say about the spiritual. And they also exist ... I think why we went to Abkhazia today. Worship ancient shrines? Oh sure. Swim in the warm sea? Also not without it. But there is something else that drew me to this piece of paradise. Some anxiety. We heard from different people that Orthodoxy in Abkhazia is going through hard times. The Abkhaz have separated from the Georgian Church, but the Russian Church does not accept them, respecting the boundaries of the canonical territory of the GOC. This "cross-border" state in Abkhazia has been going on since the very beginning of the Georgian-Abkhazian war, since 1992. That is almost 20 years. During this time, a new generation has already grown up. And, as they say, paganism managed to overwhelm the republic, Islam penetrates from Turkey. Is it so? I would like to see with my own eyes that in Abkhazia the Church stands unshakably. After all, the apostles Andrew the First-Called and Simon the Zealot, who was buried in Anakopia (modern New Athos), preached here. Here, according to some reports, the apostle from the 70 Matthias preached, and here he rested - in the city of Sebastopolis (modern Sukhum). In 325, the Bishop of Pitiunt (Pitsunda) participated in the First Ecumenical Council... Such Orthodox depths of history - and the revival of paganism? Somehow it doesn't fit in my head.

Having stood over the island, whitening in the greenish water of Psou, I step over the invisible dotted line of the state border - and now I am Abkhazia - to Apsny, which is translated from Abkhazian as "Country of the soul." At the end of the bridge there are people at the cars, meeting relatives, further - some shops, a highway, blue-blue mountains on the horizon. Yes, another earth, another sky. I go to the local customs booth. A young man in uniform, in a colorless voice, says by heart: “Please, your passport. Prepare 250 rubles to pay the insurance premium. Name the purpose of your visit...” When I said that I was on a pilgrimage and I was going to visit Orthodox shrines, the official looked up at me. An interesting dialogue followed.

Are you here by invitation? - he asked.

“Well, yes…” I was at a loss, thinking whether the conversation with Father Feofan could be considered an invitation.

- That is, there are people who will accept you and give you housing?

“Well, it seems like yes,” I answer, remembering the army tent.

- No, can you tell me exactly: yes or no?

- That's wonderful! If you have a host and an invitation, then you do not need to pay insurance. Welcome to Apsny! The customs officer handed me my passport.

First time for last years I see an official who does not want to take money. Probably, the customs officer was tired of the resting Muscovites-tourists, so he was delighted with the rare pilgrim. Soon Igor also drove up, having passed his check. The journey continues.

"The monastery is closed!"

Igor Ivanov:

Finally, the border and customs were left behind. I was expecting a rather boring ride ahead along a road that had been killed over the years of the blockade, but the highway turned out to be surprisingly smooth. Then we learned that the asphalt was laid only three years ago (with the help of the Russians, of course). And most importantly - a sip of water - a deserted highway, it was so unusual after the busy highway Novorossiysk - Sochi. In general, after the Russian Black Sea coast, it is the sparseness of people that most of all catches the eye - and after all, the peak of the holiday season! We drove into Gagra, it seemed, before dark, and left a few minutes later already in thick twilight. Eh, too much time wasted at customs, five whole hours; we are obviously late. We skipped the turn to Pitsunda, close to my heart, passed Gudauta. Well, where are you, New Athos?

Now let's ask. Braked. Ah, very close! Turn near the “shell”, of course ... “It is such a big, beautiful stop. Mosaic like that. I remembered, pulled out of the distant pantries of memory: according to rumors, the diploma work of the president of the Academy of Arts is no less than the most glorious Zurab Tsereteli.

Meanwhile, the southern night swiftly absorbed the shore into its hot embrace. We turned off the seaside highway at the "shell" - we went one way, the other, ran into some kind of fence - got lost. Dark. Claps of champagne and loud cries of vacationers. To the right is a mountain, and a rocky road goes up. Brief conclusions lead to the idea that this mountain should be called Athos, and at the top there is a monastery. I park the car so that the headlights illuminate at least part of the way up, and go in search. Mikhail stayed in the car to take a nap.

I go up - along the edges of the road, like giant hermits, cypress trees silently stand in pointed puppets, their dark needles smell of incense. Unfamiliar, in the southern way a bird screams, so they don’t scream in the North. Not that creepy, but somehow out of place, I remember that in ancient times corpses were embalmed with cypress oil. Suddenly, from somewhere above, comes the crunch of stones underfoot. Someone comes down the road, and judging by the gait - a man. I don’t see his face, I greet him in total darkness. I clarify: does this road lead to the temple? It turns out that I'm going in the right direction, although bewilderment is heard in the man's voice.

Again I heard a slow rustle, I was already upstairs. I was about to say hello, but something stopped me. And rightly so. Coming closer, I heard thick breathing - a cow plucked a bush in the dark. As it turned out, I approached the monastery on the slope of Mt. - walked past some buildings and went out to the porch. In the darkness, I heard rather than saw a pilgrim in black sitting on the steps. I asked if I could get to the monastery at this late hour. “No, the monastery is already closed,” I heard in response. - Yes, and still there is no room in the hotel. You see how many people have come!” She waved her hand to the side. I can’t see in the dark, except perhaps the outlines of the tents, but I heard the muffled conversation of the pilgrims, half-asleeply discussing plans for tomorrow.

- Do you have people constantly living in tents here?

The pilgrim reminded me that there were only a couple of days left before the main church holiday of Abkhazia - the day of memory of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon. That's lucky! On this day, believers traditionally come to the New Athos Panteleimon Monastery not only from all over the country, but, one might say, from all over the CIS. How could I forget: after all, the New Athos Monastery was built in the image of the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos by the monks who came from there, and the local throne of the majestic cathedral is also dedicated to Panteleimon the Healer.

Word for word, it turns out that the interlocutor has been coming to this holiday for many years. I tell her that I had been here on a guided tour even before the war, when a museum was located within the walls of the monastery, and for some reason I only remember the terrible cold inside. “A hospital was located here during the war,” the woman said. “In general, the monastery was like a fortress.”

- a year ago, the miraculous icon of the Great Martyr Panteleimon returned to the monastery,

- today it is one hundred and ten years since the main monastery cathedral was built,

- the first stone in the foundation of the temple was personally laid by Emperor Alexander the Third and his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna.

It looks like my interlocutor has already been on the tour. But the last fact especially touched me, because the bright image of Maria Feodorovna, the mother of Emperor Nicholas II, won my heart at one time, becoming a model of the Russian Empress ... I started talking about her, but then I caught myself. It's been half an hour since Mikhail was waiting for me in the car and probably already started to worry.

It was already well past midnight when we again got past the "shell" to the coastal Lakoba street and drove along New Athos towards Sukhum.

- What do we do? I asked Michael.

“Not the best time of day to look for a place to live,” he remarked.

“Maybe we can stop somewhere and sleep in the car,” I suggested despondently, because after twenty hours behind the wheel I wanted to stretch out.

At that moment, I noticed the figure of a woman standing by the road and, without much hope, slowed down. When asked about the possibility of spending the night, she briefly answered: “I’ll find out now,” and disappeared into the darkness. Soon she returned and reported that housing was found. I looked at my watch. It was about two in the morning.

After a conversation with the hostess, a relatively inexpensive apartment was at our disposal. Mikhail was still full of energy and offered to go swimming in the sea, but I fell into a dream, it seems, even before I had time to put my head on the pillow...

First Impressions

Mikhail Sizov:

Overnight seemed to be all right. I persuade Igor to go plunge into the sea, but he shakes his head: shower - and sleep. Driving all day long. I still can’t stand it, I’m going to the sea, since it’s across the road. It is already late at night, the sky shimmers with scatterings of precious star pebbles, pebbles invisible in the dark rustle underfoot. I dive into the warm flesh of the oncoming wave. The stars are dizzy - they are in the sky, and in the reflection of the waves, and below, in the depths, where some kind of fireflies flicker. Somersaulting, I swim to the shore, on electric lights, and I understand that I am swimming further and further into the sea. How deceptive is the southern night! Well, this is not a coast, but ships glow with lanterns!

In the morning, when we came to the sea to freshen up, the ships were still in the roadstead. Destroyer and guard with guns. Our. Black Sea Fleet. Is it calmer in your heart? It seems that we should be glad that we are being protected from the Georgians, but what good is there ...

About a visit to the Simono-Kananitsky New Athos Monastery, which appeared in all its splendor in the sunlight, and I won’t write about amazing meetings there yet - this is a separate story. I will only note what immediately struck me: Orthodox churches against the backdrop of lush subtropical palm trees. It was like being in Byzantium. The impression was spoiled only by modernly dressed tourists.

It is believed that the monastery stands at the foot of the Iverskaya mountain, but still it is almost a hundred meters above sea level. It is difficult to climb on foot in the heat, and tourists are brought here in a truck plying back and forth. People stand in an open body tightly, in rows - like collective farmers who are being taken to field work. Another detail: outside the gates of the monastery for the first time I saw a man in a skirt live. Sign of the resort town. Our tourists enter the temple right in shorts, so they, like women, are given skirts at the entrance. I must say that the Abkhaz themselves, although they live here permanently, in this heat, do not appear in shorts in public places. They only swim in shorts, considering swimming trunks an indecent attire for a man. Such is the local culture, which, in fact, is similar to the Russian folk “dress code”. Thirty years ago, if a man appeared on a village street in short pants, they would have laughed.

Leaving the temple, we decided to look at Stalin's dacha, which is only fifty meters from the monastery, a little higher up the hill. It was built in 1947 on the site of the house of the New Athos hegumen. A little higher up in the former church house, Lavrenty Beria also lived. We go, checking the arrows-pointers: "To Stalin's dacha." The sun bakes mercilessly, 50 meters up seem like a whole kilometer. Two women in headscarves come down towards them, an excerpt of a conversation is heard: “She is bleeding, blood is pouring directly from the icon ...” They were asked where the Stalinist state dacha was located, and they were surprised: is there such a thing? And really, what business are the pilgrims up to this? I was ashamed to ask about the miracle of the bleeding icon (later we found out what was discussed).

On the marble steps of the cottage, in the shade, sat a guard in camouflage and smoked. “The tours are over,” he told us. Stalin's residence seemed to me quite modest, the "new Russians" are now building richer ones. But what a view from here! The "Father of the Nations" could well feel himself the ruler of the world here: below are small houses and - across the entire horizon - an endless sea space with two splinters of warships.

- How long have Russian ships come to you? Igor asked the security guard.

“They didn’t come, but returned,” the Abkhaz answered phlegmatically.

- Ships, go, Sevastopol? Igor asks further.

- I don’t know, the base of the maritime border guards is not far away, in Ochamchire, and it stood under Soviet rule. And now it is being restored, now there is a base of the Russian Navy. We also have our own ships, but they are just boats with guns.

“Igor, why are you torturing a person,” I intervene in the conversation, “they will still think that we are spies.

“And the Americans have already explored everything with us,” the Abkhaz waved his hand, “they ran here in short pants, in shorts. International observers, all sorts of missions. When the “mekhdrioni” killed civilians, they were somehow invisible, but when the Georgians were driven away, they immediately rushed.

Did you also fight?

“I’m an Abkhaz,” the man in camouflage shrugged his shoulders again. - But here many fought for Abkhazia - Russians, Adygs, Chechens, Abaza, Ossetians ...

Listening to this peaceful conversation, I remembered Tatyana Shutova, a Muscovite, our longtime author (and, "Faith", Nos. 359-560). Major in the reserve of the Abkhaz army, holder of the Order of Leon (the highest award of the republic), currently in Moscow, at the Sretensky Theological Seminary, she conducts a special course, which she herself compiled. The special course is outlandish - dedicated to the customs and traditions of different peoples, mainly Caucasian. She was able to get acquainted with these customs just during the Abkhaz-Georgian war, since the combat detachments included the entire national spectrum of the Caucasus.

I immediately remembered that on the eve of our trip, Tatyana Alekseevna advised us to meet with Givi Smyr, the discoverer of the New Athos caves. As I understood from her words, he is not only a caver, but also a great connoisseur of local culture. In any case, he will be able to answer one of the questions prepared by us: is Christian Abkhazia really threatened by paganism and Islam? “If you want to learn about folk customs, about the attitude of ordinary people to religion, then you should go to him,” Tatyana Alekseevna recommended.

– Do you happen to know Givi Smyr? I ask the security guard.

- Who doesn't know him in New Athos! Dear man, scientist, he was given a “booking” during the war, but he still went to liberate Sukhum, the Abkhaz replied. - There is a tour desk nearby, where the entrance to the caves is, there you will find Givi. He is either in his office, or in the barbecue - ask, you will be shown.

After saying goodbye to a polite guard, we go to the indicated address. The "Tour Bureau" turned out to be a huge building of glass and concrete, with a restaurant, a tasting room, and various shops. In the hall where tickets to the caves are sold, a wooden carved panel depicting a temple and an alarm bell is fixed on the wall, on the sides of it are photographs of local militias who died in battle. I read the inscriptions. "Valery Argun (1960–1993)". Almost my age. And here is just a child, with a Russian surname: "Alexander Gudnik (1984-1993)". Did a nine-year-old boy fight on a par with adults? Or was he simply killed, and his innocent soul, having gone to Heaven, does not give rest to the survivors? “Their souls melt over the mountains, like the trace of an eagle’s wing,” is inscribed above the panel.

Later I inquired who wrote these verses. It turns out that the author is Russian, Alexander Bardodym. Being a Muscovite with Cossack roots, he learned the Abkhaz language and translated local poets. When war broke out in August 1992 in his "second homeland", Bardodym worked for the Moscow newspaper Chimes. Having issued a journalistic business trip, he reached Abkhazia through the city of Grozny, where he joined the detachment of "confederates". This detachment, which was just leaving through the passes to the Abkhazian territory, was headed by Shamil Basayev. The Moscow poet dedicated verses to this event, apparently on order: “There are rumblings over the formidable city, a storm is walking between the rocks. We charge our guns and cross the pass. In the land where the bandits are atrocious, the free land is burning. The avengers-jigits are passing along the path of Mansur, Shamil ... The enemy was struck by courage in dashing, desperate deeds, in battle on the blade of a dagger we will write with blood: "My Allah" ... " Basayev liked the poems very much, they were made the "Hymn of the Confederates." Could a Muscovite, fulfilling a poetic order, know that in two years another war would break out - the “First Chechen War”? And that people like Basayev would kill his Cossack brothers, massacre Russian women and old people? Until that time, the poet did not live - he died under unclear circumstances, having been in Basayev's detachment for less than a month. According to one of the versions, which the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia considers most likely, he was killed in the Gudauta hotel by one of the Basayevites for refusing to sell the AKSU machine gun presented by the Abkhazians. Alexander was buried in New Athos - in Anakopia, ancient capital Abkhazia.

Such is the Caucasian kaleidoscope. As everything here is subtly intertwined, it is easy for an ignorant person to get into a mess.

inside the mountain

We did not find Givi Shamelovich Smyr either in the office or in the barbecue. Everyone who was approached reported that they had just seen him. Deciding to take a break, we went to the cave labyrinth. It was necessary to get into the depths of the Iverskaya Mountain by the "metro" - in an electric car, which in a few minutes overcomes 1360 meters of a tunnel punched in stone. The New Athos cave is considered the deepest in the world and the largest in the territory of the former USSR; it consists of seven huge halls, up to 70 meters high. The most beautiful of them are the hall named after Givi Smyr, "Anakopia" and the Helictite Grotto. It is twilight inside, but not because of saving electricity, but in order, as the Abkhaz guide explained, to preserve the microflora of the dungeon in its original form.

The cave is several million years old, but even during the time of ancient Anakopia, and after the monastery of New Athos appeared near the Iberian Mountain, people did not dare to go down here. The black failure-well on the mountain slope was called by the locals the Bottomless Pit. They threw a stone into the well - and there was no sound of falling. At the end of the 50s of the last century, the teenager Givi, a native of the nearest mountain village, decided to penetrate into the abyss. There were no people willing to help him, and he climbed alone. He descended twenty meters on a rope - and the light of the lantern snatched out only the bare walls of the well, and a black abyss gaped below. The boy tied rope after rope and with each attempt he sank lower and lower, but there was no bottom. Some time later, the Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of Georgia received a letter written in large, almost childish handwriting: help explore the karst cavity! In the summer of 1961, a scientific expedition arrived at the call of Givi. By the time of the descent of cavers at the Bottomless Pit, locals, the old people just shook their heads... The scientist Arsen Okrojanashvili was the first to go down, the second to go down was entrusted to Givi - as a discoverer.

“Now look at that corner of the cave vault that is illuminated by a spotlight. It was from there that brave speleologists entered here, and the human foot set foot for the first time ... ”The guide’s voice resounds in the cave, the tourists are talking to each other almost in a whisper - like uninvited guests. The decoration of the underground chamber is amazing: all around, like swollen candles, there are rows of stalagmites, and a huge chandelier of calcite stalactites hangs from the ceiling. Is it possible that such splendor has been hidden from man for millions of years? Why is beauty needed if no one sees it?

“So they saw it,” Igor answers to my surprise. And that's right. God is simply in no hurry to reveal the secrets of the universe to us. Millions of years will pass, and somewhere in the depths of space, on distant planets, our descendants will still admire the perfection of God's world. The cosmos is given to man, as it were, for growth, for the long term of being. The Lord has given us a free choice. We can forever roam the cosmos, collecting precious stones, guessing God's reflection on their faces. We can bring down this world together with ourselves, turning away from God. And we can, probably, find some short way to the meaning of the existing world - to God Himself, leaving worldly treasures behind... Repentance, prayer, love. The path to God is known, only the end of the path is unknown - but will He accept me? Am I trying in vain? This is where faith is needed.

Even the darkness is not bottomless - the mountaineer boy believed, descending into an unknown abyss, into coal darkness. What to say about light? We go up the stairs - and there, in front, behind the brightest light of the shining robes of God, we cannot see Him. But we believe that He is waiting! Merciful and loving... This thought somehow warmed me in the darkness and cold of the stone belly of the mountain.

Returning from an underground journey, we found Givi Shamelovich in his office. Overgrown with a beard, muscular, he, shaking hands, jokingly introduced himself: "Smyr, caveman." With humor. And he looks so young, but he is already over 65 years old.

- It is difficult to determine your age in Abkhazia, - I say. - The land of long-livers.

“There used to be centenarians, yes, they were,” the highlander sighed. “Now the world is a little different.

– What has changed?

“Uh, sir, a lot has changed. From childhood, I remember how in our village people gathered for the holidays, and where the old people sat, their staffs stood like a dense forest. And now in the villages - one or two centenarians.

Is it because of bad ecology, or what?

- It is a sin to complain about this - the ecology, consider, is untouched in our country. Here, not in nature, but in the people themselves, something is happening ...

Igor and I make ourselves comfortable in armchairs - we have obviously got to an interesting storyteller ...

Abkhazia

Geography

Abkhazia is located in the northwestern part of Transcaucasia between the rivers Psou and Ingur, in the southwest it is washed by the Black Sea. The coast, more than 210 km long, is little indented, there are often wide pebble beaches.

The climate of Abkhazia is determined by its coastal position and the presence of high mountain ranges.

On the coast, the climate is humid subtropical. The average temperature in January is from +2 to +4 °C. The average temperature in August is from +22 to +24. The average rainfall is about 1500 mm per year.

In the mountains it is clearly expressed altitudinal zonality, which causes large differences in the climate of various mountainous areas. subtropical climate in the mountains it extends to approximately 400 m. Eternal snow lies at an altitude of 2700-3000 m.

Most of the territory of the republic (about 75%) is occupied by spurs Main (Dividing) Range, limiting Abkhazia from the north, - Gagra, Bzybsky, Abkhazsky and Kodorsky ridges. highest point ridge - mountain Dombay-Ulgen(4046 m). Passes leading to Abkhazia through the Main Range are Klukhorsky (2781 m), Marukhsky (2739 m) and others.

From the southeast it enters Abkhazia, gradually narrowing, Colchis lowland. A narrow strip of lowland stretches along the coast northwest of the Kodor River. Between mountains and lowlands there is a belt of hilly foothills. Abkhazia has developed karst phenomena ( Voronya caves, Abrskila , Anakopia and etc.). In Abkhazia, there is the deepest karst cave in the world - the cavity of Kruber-Voronya (depth 2080 meters), located near Gagra. Six kilometers from Gagra is the picturesque mountain Mamzyshkha.

The rivers belong to the Black Sea basin. The most significant of them - Kodor (Kudry), Bzyb, Kyalasur, Gumista - are abundant in water, rich in hydropower (potential hydropower resources are over 3.5 million kW). The rivers are fed mainly by rain and snow; there is a spring-summer flood. There are lakes in the mountains Ritsa and Amtkal

Flora and fauna

The flora of Abkhazia includes more than 2000 plant species. Over 55% of the area of ​​the republic is covered with forests. In the Black Sea zone, the most developed for cultivated vegetation (subtropical, technical, fruit and ornamental crops, grain crops, etc.) and in the gorges, there are separate massifs of broad-leaved forests (hornbeam, hornbeam, oak, chestnut, etc.) and alder forests. On Cape Pitsunda, a grove of relic Pitsunda pine has been preserved. In the mountains, beech trees predominate (in some places with boxwood in the second tier), on the upper part of the slopes - fir and spruce forests. From 2000 m, subalpine crooked forests, alpine meadows and rocky-gravel vegetation begin.

In the forests there are bear, wild boar, lynx, red deer, roe deer; in the highlands - chamois, Caucasian black grouse; in the lowlands - a jackal; in rivers and lakes - trout, salmon, carp, pike perch and other fish species. On the territory of Abkhazia there are Ritsinsky, Gumistsky, Pitsundsky reserves.

According to polls, the distribution of confessions in 2003 was as follows.

60% - Christians

16% - Muslims

3% - adherents of the Abkhaz religion

5% - pagans

8% - atheists and non-believers

2% - other confessions

6% found it difficult to answer

ABKHAZ- one of the oldest indigenous ethnic groups of the Caucasus, whose language, culture and traditions are closest and related to the North Caucasian peoples: Abazins, Adyghes, Kabardians, Circassians, Ubykhs. Linguistically, they all make up the Abkhaz-Adyghe group of the North Caucasian family of languages.

Abkhazians are a young people. They use the alphabet created in 1862 by the linguist P.K. Uslar on the basis of Russian graphics, improved by Abkhaz scientists.
According to the 1989 census, the number of Abkhazians in the Republic of Abkhazia is 93.2 thousand people, in total in the Russian Federation and the CIS countries - 105 thousand people. They live in Turkey and other countries - more than 600 thousand people.
Abkhazians profess different beliefs: traditional religion (paganism), Christianity (Orthodoxy), Islam (Sunni).
The first mention of Abkhazia is contained in the Assyrian sources of the XII century. BC e. (the inscription of Tiglathpalasar I) under the name "abeshla", and in the I-II centuries. n. e.
"Apsils" and "Abasgians" are fixed.
Their genetic connection with the Abkhazian people is indicated by the ethnonyms "Apsua" (the self-name of the Abkhazians), "Abaza" (the self-name of the Abaza, related to the Abkhazians), "obezy" of Russians and "Abkhazians" of Georgian chronicles. "Apsny", i.e.