Otkhara

It is located northwest of the Gudauta district center in the plain-foothill strip at the foot of the Bzyb Range .

The village (administration) of Othara historically includes 5 villages (abkh. Aҳabla ):

• Batsha
• Kuanapa
• Toad
• Dzagripsh
• Mamijirhua

In the north, the Bzybsky ridge serves as the border of Otkhara,
in the east of Othara it borders on the village of Huap ,
in the south - with the villages of Mgudzirhua and Barmysh ,
in the west - with Barmysh .

According to the 1959 census, 463 people lived in the village of Otkhara, mostly Abkhazians (in the Otkharsky village council as a whole - 2,362 people, also mostly Abkhazians ). ^[2] According to the 1989 census, the population of the Otkhara Village Council was 2,059, including 446 of the village of Otkhara. ^[1] , mainly Abkhazians as well as Svans ^[3] According to the 2011 census, the population of the rural settlement (rural administration) of Okhara amounted to 1586 residents, 98.4% of them were Abkhazians (1560 people), 0.8% - Russians (13 people), 0.2% - Georgians (3 people), 0.1% - Armenians (1 person), 0.1% - Ukrainians (1 person), 0.1% - Greeks (1 person), 0.4% - others (7 people). ^[four]

According to the census of 1886, Orthodox Christians lived in the village of Otkhara - 1029 people, Muslims - Sunnis - 57 people. According to the class division, there were 21 princes , 28 noblemen , 7 representatives of the Orthodox clergy and 1,028 peasants in Othara. Representatives of the “ urban ” estates did not live in the village .

In the Stalin period, Svan peasants from the Mestia region of Georgia were resettled to Otkhara. Most of them settled in the villages of Zhabna , Mamijirhua and Dzagripsh . Unlike most Georgians in Abkhazia , the Okhara Svans perfectly mastered the Abkhaz language . During the Georgian-Abkhaz war, the Svans left the village .

Near Otkhara on the banks of the Black River is the famous trout farm. At one time, the economy provided fresh trout to the entire Black Sea coast of the Soviet Union. Today it operates in 5% of its capacity.

• Alexandra Konstantinovna Nozadze (1913-1941) - Soviet officer, participant in the Great Patriotic War , political instructor of the 3rd machine gun company of the 1151st rifle regiment of the 343rd rifle division of the 56th army . On November 21, 1941, during the Rostov operation, the advance detachment of the division captured the bridgehead in the village of Nizhne-Gnilovskaya (now within the Zheleznodorozhny district of Rostov-on-Don ). When the commander was killed, and she herself was wounded, she did not leave the battlefield and led the fighters into the attack. She died during the assault on the villages.
• Vyacheslav Maksimovich Aiba (1948–2014) - the first professional Abkhaz choral conductor, one of the founders of the Abkhaz opera and symphonic conducting. Honored Art Worker of the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1983), Knight of the Order "Akhdz-Apsha" ("Honor and Glory"), III degree (2009). He was awarded the medal "For Courage" (1994) for the courage shown in the Patriotic War of the people of Abkhazia 1992-1993. As Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the State Choir of the Republic of Abkhazia, he traveled all over the post-Soviet space from the Baltic republics to Siberia, performing at such concert venues as the Dome Cathedral in Riga, the House of Organ Music in Kiev, the Central House of Art Workers in Moscow, Bolshoi Hall of the Tashkent Conservatory and others. Great interest of the audience was caused by the performance of Abkhazian folk songs: “About the Rock”, “Wound”, “Ozbak”, “Goodis” and many others in the treatment of V. Ayb. He significantly expanded the repertoire of the chapel, introducing into the program Rekema V. Mozart and D. Verdi, the works of the Ukrainian composer Vladimir Guba, as well as new works by Abkhazian composers Rajden Gumb, Alexei Chichba, Konstantin Chengeli, Toto Adzhapua: “My Fatherland” (d. D .Gulia), “Elegy” (lyrics by D. Akhub), “Uarada” (lyrics by G. Chachba), “On the banks of the Lon” (by lyrics by I. Tarba), “The Sky” (lyrics by M. Mikaya) , “My Song” (lyrics by K. Chachkhalia) and others. In 1986 he was appointed conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Abkhazia. Under his leadership, before the start of World War II, the people of Abkhazia 1992-1993. in the Hall of the Abkhaz State Philharmonic Society hosted evenings of classical music, at which masterpieces of world symphonic music were performed: Beethoven, Mozart symphonies, concerts of Chopin, Saint-Saens, Grieg, Weber, etc. In addition to 40 years of conducting, Ayba V.M. He is the author of numerous arrangements and arrangements of Abkhazian folk songs for the academic choir, the song “Sypsadgyl” (translated from the abh. - “Motherland”, on the lyrics by D. Gulia), the author of the arrangement “Ballads on a Burned Helicopter” (on the verse T .Bibulatova) for the mixed choir and song of the Apsny-67 group “Sashtsea” (in the lane with the abh. - “Brothers”, in the lyrics by R. Smyr) for the mixed choir and orchestra.
• Chakmach-ipa Willy Erifovich (1947-2013) - People's Artist of the Republic of Abkhazia. In 1977, he began working as a soloist in the State Honored Folk Song and Dance Ensemble of Abkhazia and as a soloist in the Abkhaz State Philharmonic named after R.D. Gumba. During his work in the State Assembly, he traveled to more than 30 countries of the world, was a soloist of the State Choir Chapel of Abkhazia. In 2000, Chakmach-ipa created the male folk choir "Chegem" and directed it until the end of his life. The ensemble's repertoire includes works by Abkhazian, Russian and Western European composers, as well as their own compositions.

• Kvarchia V.E. Historical and modern toponymy of Abkhazia (Historical and etymological study). - Sukhum: Press House, 2006—328 p.
• Kәarҷia V.E. Aҧsny atoponymy. - Аҟәа: 2002 .-- 686 d. ( Abkh. )