Shamgoni Island: Landscapes and Historic Museum

In the riverbeds there are so-called stone islands, which are separate protrusions of the main rocks that have escaped erosion due to their hardness (or for another reason). As a rule, the shapes of river islands elongate towards the river current. Sometimes these islands are very large. The largest of the river islands in the world is Bananal Island, located in the valley of the Araguaia River (a tributary of the Amazon River). This island is 350 km long and 55 km wide. In Georgia, such an unusual natural phenomenon as a river muddy island is the village of Shamgona in the Zugdidi region.

Near the village of Rukhi, the Inguri River divides into two branches. Between the arms is the island of Shamgoni, which is 12 km long and 0.5—2.0 km wide. Until the middle of the 17th century, there was a peninsula here, but after one flood this place turned into an island.

In ancient times, the place where Shamgoni is now located was covered with forests. There grew a barren grape variety "shamgu", which gave the island its name, although the variety itself has long since disappeared. "Shamgu" means the root, "she" is a particle denoting a place where certain plants are widespread.

It is assumed that the village received this name at the end of the 17th century, since the Italian missionary Archangelo Lamberti, who visited Samegrelo during the reign of Levan II Dadiani (1611-1657), does not mention Shamgon in his work. He talks about the monastery of Tsipuria Lamberti, without naming the village where this monastery was located, he simply indicates its location: the right bank of the left arm of the Iguri River, between the village of Nobakevi and Zugdidi (this is where Shamgoni is currently located). If the toponym "Shamgoni" had existed at that time, Lamberti would have written that the monastery was located on the island of Shamgoni.

The main attraction of Zugdidi is the historical and architectural Museum, located in the palace of the Samegrelo rulers. The palace is surrounded by a magnificent park. The construction of this Dadiani Park began in the first half of the 18th century. He entrusted the care of the park to his wife Ekaterina Chavchavadze. To design the park, she invited an Italian specialist, Joseph Babin. In 1855, the Turks burned down the whole of Zugdidi and completely destroyed the park. To restore the park, Ekaterina again invited Italian specialists, the Zaberleti brothers.

Location:
It begins at the village of Rukhi and ends at the village of Khurcha, the confluence of two branches of the Inguri (Zugdidi municipality).
Coordinates:
№4231'17''; Е4147'39''.
How to get:
The island begins at the transition bridge to the left bank of the Ignuri River, on the eastern outskirts of the village of Shamgona, west of the village of Shamgona, west of the village of Kakhati; the distance from Tbilisi is 350 km, from Zugdidi — 12 km.