History of Adjara - Ancient and Medieval Adjara

Ancient and Medieval Adjara

Archeologists say the territory has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age. Occupied by an ancient Georgian tribe of Moskhs from ancient times, the territory of Adjara was a province of Colchis in the 7th-3rd cent. BC. Part of the area formed a county (saeristavo) within the Kingdom of Iberia in the late 4th century BC. Colonized by Greek merchants in the 5th and 4th cent. B.C., the coastal Adjara later came under Roman rule. Bathus (Bathys) (the present day Batumi) and Apsaros (Apsaruntos) (modern Gonio) were the key cities and fortresses at that time. Archeological excavations have revealed ruins of a rich ancient town at Pichvnari near the present day town of Kobuleti. In the 2nd century AD, Bathus was an important military base for Roman legions. Apsaros was famous for its theatre.

The early Christian era in Adjara was linked with names of Saint Andrew, Saint Simon the Canaanite and Matata. Saint Matthias is said to be buried in the Gonio fortress near Batumi. In the 2nd century AD, Adjara was incorporated in the kingdom of Lazica. The province's key fortress of Petra (Tsikhisdziri) served as a battlefield during the Lazic War between the Byzantines and Persians in 542-562.

In the 9th century, the region was divided between two Georgian states, the Tao-Klarjeti and the Kingdom of Abkhazia.

In the 11th century, Adjara became a part of the unified Georgian Kingdom and was governed by rulers of Samtskhe-Saatabago. The region was ravaged by Seljuks in the 11th century and by Mongols in the 13th century. After the disintegration of Georgian monarchy and subsequent internal wars, Adjara was passed from hands to hands until it became a part of the Principality of Guria in 1535. The Genoese established one of their Black Sea trading "factories" at the fortified town of Gonio at that time.