Kutaisi in the context of "Kingdom of Abkhazia"

The Battle of Didgori (Georgian: დიდგორის ბრძოლა, romanized: didgoris brdzola) was fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Seljuk Empire at the narrow place of Didgori, 40 km west of Tbilisi, on August 12, 1121. The large Muslim army, under the command of Ilghazi, was unable to maneuver and suffered a devastating defeat due to King David IV's effective military tactics.

The battle at Didgori was the culmination of the entire Georgian–Seljuk wars and led to the Georgians' reconquest of Tbilisi in 1122. Soon after that David moved the capital from Kutaisi to Tbilisi. The victory at Didgori inaugurated the medieval Georgian Golden Age and is celebrated in The Georgian Chronicles as a (Georgian: ძლევაჲ საკვირველი dzlevay sak'virveli lit. 'miraculous victory'). Modern Georgians continue to remember the event as an annual August 12 festival known as Didgoroba ('[the day] of Didgori').

The Rioni (Georgian: რიონი [ˈɾio̞n̪i]; Ancient Greek: Φᾶσις, Phâsis) is the main river of western Georgia. It originates in the Caucasus Mountains, in the region of Racha and flows west to the Black Sea, entering it north of the city of Poti (near ancient Phasis). The city of Kutaisi, once the ancient city of Colchis, lies on its banks. It drains the western Transcaucasus into the Black Sea while the river Kura drains the eastern Transcaucasus into the Caspian Sea.

Bagrat III (Georgian: ბაგრატ III; born 23 September 1495 – died 1565), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the King (mepe) of Imereti from 1510 to 1565, one of the three Georgian kingdoms that shared control over Georgia following its division in 1490.

Bagrat ascended the throne at the age of fifteen after the death of his father. Throughout his reign, he faced numerous invasions by the Ottoman Empire, notably in 1512, 1543, 1545, and 1549. These invasions led to widespread devastation across his realm and marked the beginning of the decline of a once-powerful western Georgian kingdom. Although Bagrat initially controlled extensive territories, he gradually lost authority over Abkhazia, Samtskhe, and, toward the end of his reign, over the strong principalities of Guria and Mingrelia. His struggles against rebellious vassals proved fruitless, and by the time of his death, after fifty-five years of rule, his dominion had been reduced to the capital city of Kutaisi and a few surrounding agricultural provinces.

Imereti (Georgian: იმერეთი, pronounced [imeɾetʰi]) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 municipalities and the city of Kutaisi, which is the capital of the region.

The Qvirila (Georgian: ყვირილა [χʼviɾiɫä]) is a river of Georgia. It is 140 km (87 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 3,630 km (1,400 sq mi). It is a left tributary of the Rioni, which it joins south of the city Kutaisi.

The Kutaisi or Kutais Governorate was a province (guberniya) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of western Georgia throughout most of its existence, and most of the Artvin Province (except the Hopa and Yusufeli districts) of Turkey between 1878 and 1903. Created out of part of the former Georgia-Imeretia Governorate in 1846, the governorate also included Akhaltsikhe uezd before its cession to the Tiflis Governorate in 1867. The Kutaisi Governorate bordered the Sukhumi Okrug to the northwest, the Kuban Oblast to the north, the Terek Oblast to the northeast, the Tiflis Governorate to the southeast, the Batum Oblast to the southwest, and the Black Sea to the west. The governorate was eponymously named for its administrative center, Kutais (present-day Kutaisi).

Vasil Amashukeli (Georgian: ვასილ ამაშუკელი) (14 March 1886 in Kutaisi – 1 December 1977 in Tbilisi) was an early Georgian film director and cinematographer who worked in the Cinema of Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The Ossetian Military Road (Russian: Военно-Осетинская дорога, Ossetian: Уæлладжыры фæндаг — Wælladžyry fændag, Georgian: ოსეთის სამხედრო გზა) was constructed between 1854 and 1889, by the Russian Empire in the Caucasus. The road runs through the Rioni and Ardon river valleys and links Kutaisi (Georgia) with Alagir (Russia), crossing the Greater Caucasus crest through the Mamison Pass (Kutaisi-Alpana-Mamison road) at 2,911 metres (9,551 ft). The 270 kilometres (170 mi) long route is seldom used today, having been supplanted by the 1971-1981 construction of the Transcaucasian Highway, which crosses the Caucasus range via the Roki Tunnel. Alternative crossings include the Georgian Military Road, which crosses the Jvari Pass at 2,379 metres (7,805 ft).

The road begins by branching off from the Transkam about three kilometers north of Zaramag hydroelectrical power plant. It crosses into breakaway South Ossetia at Mamison pass, before proceeding into Georgia as შ16 (Sh), proceeding to Oni and from there to Ambrolauri, from there proceeds as შ17 to Tkibuli and Kutaisi.