Күтайси: Грузияның ежелгі қаласы

City in Imereti, Georgia

Kutaisi (/k//uː/'/t//aɪ//s//iː/ kooTIEsee, ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third most populous city in Georgia after Tbilisi and Batumi. Situated west of Tbilisi, on the Rioni River, it is the capital of the western region of Imereti. Historically one of the major cities of Georgia, it served as political center of Colchis in the Middle Ages as capital of the Kingdom of Abkhazia and Kingdom of Georgia and later as the capital of the Kingdom of Imereti. From October 2012 to December 2018, Kutaisi was the seat of the Parliament of Georgia as an effort to decentralise the Georgian government.

Archaeological evidence indicates that the city functioned as the capital of the Colchis in the sixth to fifth centuries BC. It is believed that, in Argonautica, a Greek epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their journey to Colchis, author Apollonius Rhodius considered Kutaisi their final destination as well as the residence of King Aeëtes. Later, it was the capital of the kingdom of Lazica until being occupied briefly by the Arabs. An Arab incursion into western Georgia was repelled by Abkhazians jointly with Lazic and Iberian allies in 736, towards c.786, Leon II won his full independence from Byzantine and transferred his capital to Kutaisi, thus unifying Lazica and Abasgia via a dynastic union. The latter led the unification of the Georgian monarchy in the 11th century. From 1008 to 1122, Kutaisi served as the capital of the United Kingdom of Georgia, and, from the 15th century until 1810, it was the capital of the Imeretian Kingdom. In 1508, the city was conquered by Selim I, who was the son of Bayezid II, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. During the 17th century, Imeretian kings made many appeals to Russian Empire to help them in their struggle for independence from the Ottomans. All these appeals were ignored as Russia did not want to spoil relations with Turkey. Only in the reign of Catherine the Great, in 1768, were troops of general Gottlieb Heinrich Totleben sent to join the forces of King Heraclius II of Georgia, who hoped to reconquer the Ottoman held southern Georgian lands, with Russian help. Totleben helped King Solomon I of Imereti to recover his capital, Kutaisi, on August 6, 1770. Finally, the Russian Turkish wars ended in 1810 with the annexation of the Imeretian Kingdom by the Russian Empire. The city was the administrative capital of the Kutais Uyezd and the larger Kutaisi Governorate, which included much of west Georgia. In March 1879, the city was the site of a blood libel trial that attracted attention all over the Russian Empire. Nine Georgian Jews from Sachkhere were falsely accused of killing a Christian girl and using her blood for allegedly Jewish religious purposes. Kutaisi was a major industrial center before Georgia's independence on 9 April 1991. Independence was followed by the economic collapse of the country, and, as a result, many inhabitants of Kutaisi have had to work abroad. Small scale trade prevails among the rest of the population. In 2011, Mikheil Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, signed a constitutional amendment relocating the parliament to Kutaisi. On 26 May 2012, Saakashvili inaugurated the new Parliament building in Kutaisi. This was done in an effort to decentralise power and shift some political control closer to Abkhazia, although it has been criticised as marginalising the legislature, and also for the demolition of a Soviet War Memorial formerly at the new building's location. The subsequent government of the Georgian Dream passed a new constitution that moved the parliament back to Tbilisi, effective from January 2019.

The landmark of the city is the ruined Bagrati Cathedral, built by Bagrat III, king of Georgia, in the early 11th century. The Gelati Monastery a few km east of the city, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the famous churches in Georgia is Motsameta monastery. It is named after two saints, brothers David and Constantine. They were the Dukes of Margveti, and were martyred by Arab invaders in the 8th  century. Besides the churches, there are other places of note such as: Sataplia Cave, where one can observe footprints of dinosaurs; ruins of Geguti Palace, which was one of the residences of Georgian monarchs; "Okros Chardakhi" – Georgian Kings' Palace; the Pantheon, where many notable citizens are buried; The Kutaisi Synagogue which was built in 1885.

Kutaisi is located along both banks of the Rioni River. The city lies at an elevation of above sea level. To the east and northeast, Kutaisi is bounded by the Northern Imereti Foothills, to the north by the Samgurali Range, and to the west and the south by the Colchis Plain.

Kutaisi is surrounded by deciduous forests to the northeast and the northwest. The low lying outskirts of the city have a largely agricultural landscape. The city center has many gardens and its streets are lined with high, leafy trees. In the springtime, when the snow starts to melt in the nearby mountains, the storming Rioni River in the middle of the city is heard far beyond its banks.

Kutaisi has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with a well defined on shore/monsoonal flow (characteristic of the Colchis Plain) during the autumn and winter months. The summers are generally hot, while the winters are wet and cool. The average annual temperature in the city is 14.8 °C (59 °F). January is the coldest month with an average temperature of 5.4 °C (42 °F) while August is the hottest month with an average temperature of 24.7 °C (76 °F). The absolute minimum recorded temperature is and the absolute maximum is 43.1 °C (110 °F) recorded on 30 July 2000.

+ Historical population and ethnic composition of Kutaisi Year Georgians Jews Armenians Russians Others Total 1886 15,200 67.1% 2.788 12.3% 2,320 10.2% 1,526 6.7% 22,643 1897 22,017 67.8% 3,419 10.5% 1,264 3.9% 3,684 11.3% 32,476 1916 33,843 58.2% 10,479 18.0% 1,845 3.2% 10,975 18.9% 1,009 1.7% 58,151 1926 39,871 82.7% 4,738 9.8% 830 1.7% 890 1.8% 48,196 1939 59,612 76.9% 6,986 4.7% 977 1.3% 8,753 11.3% 77,515 1959 96,614 75.4% 581 0.5% 1,614 1.3% 16,213 12.6% 128,203 1970 160,937 1979 194,297 1989 234,870 2002 181,465 97.6% 613 0.3% 2,223 1.2% 1,664 0.9% 185,965 2014 146,153 99.00% 60 0.04% 127 0.09% 533 0.36% 762 0.52% 147,6352023130,411

Kutaisi has traditionally been an important industrial center in Georgia, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union most of the old manufacturing lines either stopped working or had to greatly reduce their operations. Nevertheless, the city continues to be an important regional center for the greater Imereti area, acting as a commercial hub for the surrounding countryside. In recent years, the city has started attracting more investment from various multinational corporations. The Auto Mechanical Plant, originally established in 1945, is located in Kutaisi. There are two free industrial zones in Kutaisi: The Kutaisi free industrial zone (Kutaisi FIZ) and the Hualing free industrial zone (Hualing FIZ). The Kutaisi FIZ was created in 2009 and was established on the initiative of Fresh Electric, an Egypt based home appliances producer. The Hualing FIZ operates since 2015, and specializes in wood and stone processing, furniture and mattress production and metal construction. Both of the free industrial zones offer multiple incentives to investors such as tax exemptions and reduced barriers for trade. During the same year Changan Automobile announced plans to construct an electric car factory in Kutaisi, with an annual production capacity of up to 40,000 vehicles. The company plans to export annually about 20,000 cars to the EU. The factory plans to employ about 3,000 people.