Home » Images » 0042 Pictures From History » CPA0020765

Greece / Georgia: The Colchian Dragon (which protected the Golden Fleece). Jason emerges from the dragon's mouth as Athena watches. Painting on the Douris Cup, c. 475 BCE

In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.

The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian statehood after its unification with the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia. The term Colchians is used as the collective term for early Georgian tribes which populated the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

In Greek mythology, Colchis was the home of Aeëtes and Medea and the destination of the Argonauts; Colchis is also thought to be the possible homeland of the Amazons. Its geography is mostly assigned to what is now the western part of Georgia and encompasses the present-day Georgian provinces of Samegrelo, Imereti, Guria, Adjara, Abkhazeti, Svaneti, Racha; modern Turkey’s Rize, Trabzon and Artvin provinces (Lazistan, Tao-Klarjeti); and modern Russia’s Sochi and Tuapse districts. The Colchians were probably established on the Black Sea coast by the Middle Bronze Age.