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According to legend, in ancient times Achba were both local dukes and priests. Once it happened that the son of the prince and the son of the peasant Chichba were captured together. When Chichba came to redeem his son from captivity, he saw young Achba with him and paid all the money he had for him, brought him to his father and immediately began to gather back - already for his son. The duke, amazed at the behavior of the peasant, gathered the inhabitants of Achandara and told them that the only way to adequately thank Chichba for his generosity would be to transfer to him and his family the functions of a priest in the Dydrypsh sanctuary.
The sanctuary in Achandara is the only one in Abkhazia, which, thanks to the Chichba family, managed to maintain its purpose in Soviet times. In 1992, when the Patriotic War of the people of Abkhazia began, Zaur Chichba, who was a priest at that time, together with the chairman of the Supreme Council of the republic Vladislav Ardzinba and the Abkhaz people, turned to Dydrypshch-nykh with the words: "We did not seize this land, God himself gave us this land, and if it is really ours, then leave it to us, if the land is theirs, give it to them and don’t torture us anymore.If you fulfill our wish soon and clear our land of Georgians, we will sacrifice a white bull in this place and thank you."
After the victory, Zaur Chichba gathered all the priests and fulfilled the promise given to God.
In 2019, after the death of Zaur, the family elected Boris Chichba as a priest. In the end of the 19th century, the oldest man from the surname Chichba was appointed as the priest of the sanctuary in Achandara. Now, when appointing a priest, they are primarily guided by moral qualities. They choose internally and externally clean people, “crystal” as they say here.
Almost every time when we come with guests to Abkhazia, we stop by his house - to talk and touch the traditional life of the Abkhaz peasants.
* The prayer at the Elyr-nykha performed in August 2020 is on the photo. All 6 priests gathered there and consecrated Ruslan Berzek, a descendant of the last prince of the Ubykhs, as a priest of the Bytkha sanctuary. Photo by Thomas Taitsuk.
The sanctuary in Achandara is the only one in Abkhazia, which, thanks to the Chichba family, managed to maintain its purpose in Soviet times. In 1992, when the Patriotic War of the people of Abkhazia began, Zaur Chichba, who was a priest at that time, together with the chairman of the Supreme Council of the republic Vladislav Ardzinba and the Abkhaz people, turned to Dydrypshch-nykh with the words: "We did not seize this land, God himself gave us this land, and if it is really ours, then leave it to us, if the land is theirs, give it to them and don’t torture us anymore.If you fulfill our wish soon and clear our land of Georgians, we will sacrifice a white bull in this place and thank you."
After the victory, Zaur Chichba gathered all the priests and fulfilled the promise given to God.
In 2019, after the death of Zaur, the family elected Boris Chichba as a priest. In the end of the 19th century, the oldest man from the surname Chichba was appointed as the priest of the sanctuary in Achandara. Now, when appointing a priest, they are primarily guided by moral qualities. They choose internally and externally clean people, “crystal” as they say here.
Almost every time when we come with guests to Abkhazia, we stop by his house - to talk and touch the traditional life of the Abkhaz peasants.
* The prayer at the Elyr-nykha performed in August 2020 is on the photo. All 6 priests gathered there and consecrated Ruslan Berzek, a descendant of the last prince of the Ubykhs, as a priest of the Bytkha sanctuary. Photo by Thomas Taitsuk.