Zugdidi

Zugdidi is 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the Black Sea and was a key merchant city when the roads to Abkhazia were open, benefitting from the silk trade and other commerce. That border is now shut but Zugdidi remains the closest town to the Russian-occupied region. It is hosting thousands of refugees from Abkhazia, many of whom travel daily into the occupied territories to work their land or tend their flocks.

Historically, Zugdidi was home to the powerful Dadiani dynasty that came to prominence in the 12th century when they were given the hereditary title of Dukes of Odishi, the name for medieval Samegrelo. The Dadiani served at the court of the kings of Georgia and became the most powerful feudal family in western Georgia. For centuries they fought with the kings of Imereti, jostling for position in the western part of the country, and finally were recognized as princes of Odishi by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. They maintained their dominant status until the 19th century when Georgia was absorbed by the Russian Empire.