Imereti

Imereti province is located in Western Georgia and borders with the following provinces: Guria, Samegrelo, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Shida Kartli, Samtskhe-Javakheti. Kutaisi is an administrative center of Imereti and one of the biggest cities in Western Georgia. Imereti consists of 12 administrative districts: Kutaisi, Tkibuli, Tskaltubo, Chiatura, Baghdati, Vani, Zestaponi, Terjola, Samtredia, Sachkhere, Kharagauli, Khoni. The biggest cities of the region are: Kutaisi, Tkibuli, Tskaltubo, Chiatura, Baghdati, Vani, Zestaponi, Terjola, Samtredia, Sachkhere, and Khoni.
The most noteworthy out of existing enterprises in the region are the enterprise in Chiatura engaged in extracting manganese and the ferro-alloy plant in Zestaponi. Main Sectors are Trade, Industry, Transport; Main industries and products: Food industry (meat, dairy, mineral water, alcoholic beverages); Wood processing (semi-finished products, furniture); Textile industry (natural silk, carpets, ready-to wear clothing); Mineral processing (Chalk, cement, colour pigments); Machine-building (agricultural equipment, oil pumps, tractors, trucks, car parts, hoists). The main agricultural activities of the region are vine growing and animal farming, in Samtredia - tea growing. Households are mainly engaged in growing maize, vine and fruit.

Imereti has always been a tourist attraction. The most famous and popular places of interest are: UNSCO Heritage sites - Bagrati and Gelati; ancient town Vani; Sataplia grotto and Nature Reserve; Katskhis Sveti (pillar); Motsameta monastery; Ubisa church etc. The location of the province, its history, culture, monuments are part of different types of tours offered: from Cultural to Adventurous.

The Land & the City of Golden Fleece

Ancient Greek myths and history date its origin back to the "times of Minos" (16^th-15^th cc BC). Ancient Greeks considered Minos, Governor of Crete, and King Aeetes at Cytaea (Kutaisi) to be great, "god-like". The plot of the famous "Argonautica" centres round the "hegemon" city — Kutaisi. In ancient and feudal times Kutaisi was the first city of West Georgia (Colchis, Egrisi, Lazika). As the 6^th c. capital of Egrisi Kingdom, Kutaisi had for 20 years been the cause of rivalry between Iran and Byzantine. The Persians having once managed to occupy it, the Byzantines, Georgians' coreligionists, liberated the city. In the late 8^th c. Kutaisi became capital of the united Egrisi and Abkhasian Kingdoms. In the 10^th c. the first king of united Georgia, Bagrat III, built the beautiful Bagrat Temple in Kutaisi as a symbol of the country's unity. Famous poem “Voyage of Argo” by Apollonius of Rhodes and “Medea” by Euripides are related to the name of Kutaisi and tell us stories that took place 3 500 years ago.