A name linked to bay trees.
The National Parliamentary Library’s Georgian-English dictionary translates ‘დაფნარი’ as ‘a grove of bay trees’. DAPNARI takes its name from that linguistic link.
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DAPNARI · დაფნარი
Meet the Imereti village behind the DAPNARI name.THE VILLAGE BEHIND THE NAME
DAPNARI დაფნარი
Our name comes from Dapnari, a village in Imereti. In Georgian, ‘დაფნარი’ means ‘a grove of bay trees’. The village lies on the Imereti Lowland, on the left bank of the Rioni, 7 km from Samtredia.
DAPNARISAMTREDIAKUTAISI© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
An ancient landscape.
The Georgian Encyclopedia dates a settlement and cemetery near Dapnari to the 5th–2nd centuries BCE. The source tells us about the history of the area; it does not establish bay cultivation in that period.
Dapnisgora — Laurel Hill.
The Vani Archaeological Survey documents Dapnisgora, the westernmost of three hills south of the village, with settlement traces from the 6th–3rd centuries BCE and pithos burials from the 4th–2nd centuries BCE.