Агуа, Monastery ruins in Khostinsky District, Russia

Agua is a monastery ruin in Khostinsky District standing on a gentle ridge between the Sochi River and Svanidze Creek. The structures are built primarily from river cobblestones and show the remains of a rectangular church hall with a semicircular altar section and a double-stepped foundation.

The ruins date no earlier than the 14th century: the masonry, the rectangular hall plan and the scant finds of the 14th–18th centuries link the church to late-medieval parish churches of Abkhazia, built for communities of 20 to 50 peasant households. Treasure hunters have dug the site over repeatedly, disturbing its layers. In 2020 Sochi National Park, which manages the territory, placed an information panel beside the ruins.

The plan and masonry link Agua to late-medieval churches of Abkhazia, where such parish churches served 20 to 50 peasant households and were built most intensively in the 14th century. The name Agua also belongs to the small river below the ridge, a left tributary of the Sochi River.

The ruins lie on a gentle ridge on the watershed between the Sochi River and the Svanidze, about 17 km from the sea, so reaching them takes a drive or taxi ride followed by walking on uneven ground. The walls of river boulder and lime mortar are unstable and the site has been repeatedly dug over by treasure hunters. An information board was installed by Sochi National Park in 2020.

Local stories tell of buried treasure near the ruins, which has prompted numerous private digging efforts over time. Yet there are no confirmed documented discoveries from these activities.