The city serves as a residence of the Metropolitan of Zugdidi and Tsaishi Eparchy of the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Local Georgian (Megrelian) residents of the historical provinces of Megrelia and Abkhazia also use "Zugidi" (ზუგიდი), which is a shortened form.

The name was given to the town because of a hill situated in the eastern part of the city, where some small remains of an ancient fortress are still visible.

A famous Georgian medieval epic poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin has been rewritten by Mamuka Tavakalashvili here at the court of Prince Levan II Dadiani in 1646.

At the end of the 1855 and beginning of 1856 city was liberated by the Mingrelian Militia commanded by Major General Prince Grigol Dadiani.

[3][4]Zugdidi Botanical Garden was established in the 19th century by the Prince of Mingrelia David Dadiani and Queen Ekaterine, near the residential palaces.

This theater's first performance, Molière's Le médecin malgré lui (The Doctor Despite Himself), was staged on 11 April 1869 by Anton Purtseladze.

The Drama Theater was founded in 1932. in 1959 the theatre was named after the famous Georgian novelist and theatrical actor Shalva Dadiani (1874–1959).

As a result of this, according to the 2002 state census, Zugdidi became the fifth most populous city in Georgia, ahead of Sokhumi, Poti, and Gori.

Library tradition in Zugdidi dates back to the reign of Prince (Mtavari) David Dadiani (1812–1853) of Mingrelia, who collected a large number of handwritten and printed books.

The main annual event in Zugdidi is Vlakernoba (Georgian: ვლაქერნობა - The day of the Blachernae's Virgin Mary) - an Orthodox Christian feast celebrated every year, on July 15.