Name
BatumiCurrent Name
BatumiAncient Name
Bathus or BathysMedieval Name
Bathou (Greek), Vati or Lo Vati (Western European), Batomi (Georgian)History of the name
Bathus or Bathys derived from the Greek phrase bathus limen or bathys limin meaning "deep harbour". Indeed, Batumi had one of the deepest and the most convenient harbours among the ancient coastal cities of the eastern Black Sea.
Place :
Country
GeorgiaGeopolitical Unit
Administrative subdivision
Capital of Adjara Autonomous Republic of GeorgiaLocation
The city of Batumi is located on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea 370 km from Tbilisi. The city is stretched from the north-east to the south-west about 7 kilometers.Foudation Date
7th century BCCurrent condition
Batumi, with the population of 180 000, is the administrative, economic, and cultural centre of Adjara Autonomous Republic. It is the seat of the government and parliament of the Autonomous Republic and of the Constitutional Court of Georgia (since 2007). The city is house to several museums and high schools including Shota Rustaveli State University and Batumi State Maritime Academy. Batumi is the main land and marine gateway to Georgia with its largest sea port and railway chain. It lies on the European route E70. Batumi International Airport was opened in 2007. The city has numerous hotels, restaurants, casinos, and tourist attractions. Also, it is a popular seaside resort. Its famous seaside park is 12 km in length. In the historic centre of Batumi, there are many late nineteenth and early twentieth-century houses. Soviet period also left significant imprint on the architecture of the city. In recent years, Batumi's skyline has been transformed with remarkable buildings including Radisson Blu Hotel, Sheraton Hotel, Public Service Hall, and Alphabet Tower. Since 2007, every summer Batumi hosts the Black Sea Jazz Festival.History
Archaeological works on the fortress located at the northern entrance of the city revealed that people inhabited there in the first millennium B.C. The earliest cultural layer should be dated back to the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Imported artefacts earliest of which date from the 6th century BC testify trade relations with the Greek colonies. Under Emperor Hadrian (117-138), the old citadel of the settlement was converted into a Roman fort with a harbour.
It is believed that "so-called Deeps" (τα καλούμενα βαθέα) mentioned by Aristotle ((384-322 BC) in his Meteorologica refers to Batumi. Aristotle's information was later repeated by Pliny the Elder and Arrian. The copy of the fifth-century map known as Tabula Peutingeriana shows Portus Altus on the place of modern Batumi, which actually is the Latin translation of the Greek toponym and means "deep harbour". In the Middle Ages, Batumi doesn’t appear in the chronicles up until the 14th century. However, some scholars think that Megale Polis mentioned in the seventh-century Chronicon Paschale may refer to Batumi.
Garrisoned by the Roman and later Byzantine forces, Batumi was formally a possession of the western Georgian kingdom of Lazica until being occupied briefly by the Arabs. In the ninth century Batumi became a part of the Tao-Klarjeti (Kartvelian) Kingdom and in the late tenth century of the unified kingdom of Georgia.
In the late 15th century, after the disintegration of the Georgian kingdom, Batumi passed to the princes Gurieli, governors of a western Georgian principality. In 1547, the Ottoman Turks conquered the city. It was recaptured by the Georgians several times, first in 1564 by Rostom Gurieli, who lost it soon afterwards, and again in 1609 by Mamia Gurieli. In 1723 Batumi again became part of the Ottoman Empire.
Under various names, Batumi is drawn on the 14th -17th centuries European maps, atlases and portolan charts: the Catalan Atlas (1375), Luxoro Atlas (early 15th c.), maps of Pietro Vesconte (1318), Pizzigani brothers (1367), Gratiosus Benincasa (1461-1480), etc.
The Georgian geographer Prince Vakhushti (1696–1757) describes Batumi as a town with an excellent citadel, while the French traveler Adrien Dupré, who visited the city in 1807, reports it being just a large village with the population of 2,000. According to A. Dupre, trade was weakly developed and only small ships entered the harbour with a limited quantity of good. During the nineteen century, Ottomans put some effort for the development of the city. In 1860s, they built new fortifications and expanded the port.
In 1878, under the Treaty of San-Stefano, Batumi together with whole region of Adjara was incorporated into the Russian Empire. It was declared a free port until 1886. The city saw a rapid development in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
From 1921, Batumi is the capital of Adjara Autonomous Republic of Georgia.
Description
The only remnant of Medieval Batumi is the citadel, now popularly referred to as Tamar’s Fortress after the name of the Georgian queen Tamar (1184-1213). It is situated at the mouth of Korolistkali River, close to the northern entrance of the city. Archaeological works on the fortress revealed that people inhabited there in the first millennium B.C. The earliest cultural layer should be dated back to the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Imported artefacts earliest of which date from the 6th century BC testify trade relations with the Greek colonies. Under Emperor Hadrian (117-138), the old citadel of the settlement was converted into a Roman fort with a harbour.
In the Middle Ages, Batumi fortress had a local significance being smaller than fortresses of Petra-Tsikhisdziri and Apsaros-Gonio. During the Ottoman rule, it housed the Turkish garrison and presumably the governor's residence. In 1860s, Ottomans decided to construct a new fortress, administrative buildings, and a residential quarter closer to the newly established harbour. The fortress was erected on the cape and was named Burun Tabie ("cape fortress"). Thus the town actually moved to a new place, which is now the core of the city of Batumi.
Harbor
No traces of historical harbour have been discovered until now in Batumi. However, the old toponym Bathus or Bathys that derives from the Greek phrase bathus limen or bathys limin meaning "deep harbour" clearly indicates that the town had a harbour from the very beginning.
There is no direct mention of the Batumi harbour in Medieval sources. However, the 14th-century chronicle Michael Panaretos says that the Trapezuntine delegation that met prince Gurieli in Batumi in 1372 had 9 galleys and 40 barques. According to the Georgian chronicler Beri Egnatashvili, In 1564, Ottoman troops arrived in Batumi in large boats to fight prince Rostom Gurieli.
Batumi remained a small port under Ottoman rule. According to the French traveller Adrien Dupré who visited Batumi in 1807, only small ships entered the harbour with a limited quantity of good. In 1860s, the Ottomans established a new larger harbour. In 1878, after the Russian conquer, Batumi was declared a free port (lasted until 1886). The port saw a rapid development in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its significance increased substantially as a result of the oil developments in the Baku area and the following need for transportation of the oil to the world markets. Construction of the Batumi-Tiflis-Baku railway (completed in 1900) and the Baku-Batumi pipeline (completed in 1906) contributed to turning the city into one of the most important ports of the Black Sea.
Fortification
Ruins of the medieval Batumi Fortress are situated at the northern entrance of the city. Built by Romans in 2nd century AD on the site of the earlier settlement, it was destroyed several times and underwent many reconstructions during the centuries. It resulted in various building layers that demonstrate different building techniques and materials. The most significant restorations of the fortress were carried out by Ottomans in the 16th and 18th centuries. After Russian conquest of Batumi, the old fortress was abandoned and gradually went to ruin. Only a small part of the old fortress has survived to the present day. It includes a rectangular tower in the northeastern corner and lower portions of walls.
Medieval Sites
Batumi Fortress; Batumi Archeological Museum; State Art Museum of Adjara; Khariton Akhvlediani Adjara State Museum; Museum of Culture and Education; Brothers Nobel’s Technological Museum.
Textual Sources
Aristotle, Meteorologica, 350a, 351a
Plinius, NH. 6, 12
Arrian, PPE, 7
Chronicon Paschale
Michael Panaretos, 44
Kartlis Tskhovreba, ed. by S. Kaukhchishvili, Vol. II (Tbilisi, 1959. in Georgian)
Bibliography
S. Kaukhchishvili (ed), Georgica, II, 1965, Georgica, III, 52, Georgica, IV, 1957 (in Georgian)
D. Braund, Georgia in Antiquity (Oxford - New York, 1994)
G. R. Tsetskhladze, Pichvnari and its Environs (Besançon, 1999)
R. Uzunadze, Navigation in Batumi District (Batumi, 2001; in Georgian)
For Atlas and maps: K. Kretschmer, Die italienischen Portolane des Mittelalters, Hildesheim 1962 (Repr.), p. 647.
Links
www.batumi.ge
www.infobatumi.ge
www.lonelyplanet.com/georgia/adjara/batumi/sights
Visual Material
1. Batumi. General view of the Medieval fortress.
2. Batumi. Medieval Fortress walls.
3. Batumi. Medieval Fortress walls.
4. Batumi. View of the Port. Early 20th-century postcard.
5. Batumi. General view of the Port. Early 20th-century postcard.
6. Batumi. Port. Painting by Leon Lagorio. 1881.
7. Batumi. Modern view of the port..
MEDIA
DIGITAL MEDIA STUDIO
