Kutaisi (/kuːˈtaɪsiː/ koo-TY-see,[5] Georgian: ქუთაისი pronounced [ˈkʰutʰaisi] ⓘ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Republic of Georgia.

[7] 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.

An Arab invasion 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 the Byzantine Empire and transferred his capital to Kutaisi, thus unifying Lazica and Abasgia via a dynastic union.

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.

Nine Georgian Jews from Sachkhere were falsely accused of killing a Christian girl and using her blood for allegedly Jewish religious purposes.

After a ten-day trial, with nearly 70 witnesses, the nine defendants were acquitted as the defense lawyers Petr Aleksandrov, Lev Kupernik and Moisei Kikodze convinced the judges that the accusations against the Jewish men were mostly based on false testimony.

This was done in an effort to decentralize power and shift some political control closer to Abkhazia, although it has been criticized as marginalizing the legislature, and also for the demolition of a Soviet War Memorial formerly at the new building's location.

[10] The subsequent government of the Georgian Dream passed a new constitution that moved the parliament back to Tbilisi, effective from January 2019.

[11] The landmark of the city is the ruined Bagrati Cathedral, built by Bagrat III, king of Georgia, in the early 11th century.

TV: "Rioni"; Radio: "Dzveli Kalaki" (old City) Also nearly all of Georgia's national-level newspapers, journals and television stations have their representatives in Kutaisi.

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.

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 most recent city council election was held on October 2, 2021, and the results were as follows: 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.

[28] The Kutaisi FIZ was created in 2009 and was established on the initiative of Fresh Electric, an Egypt-based home appliances producer.

[29] 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.

[30] 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.