Central Part Of Kutaisi In Region Imereti Of Georgia Stock Image

Later it was capital of the kingdom of Lazica until being occupied briefly by the Arabs. An Arab incursion into western Georgia was repelled by Abkhazians jointly with Lazic and Iberian allies in 736, towards c.786, Leon II won his full independence from Byzantine and transferred his capital to the Kutaisi, thus unifying Lazica and Abasgia via a dynastic union. The latter led the unification of Georgian monarchy in the 11th century.