History of Batumi - Early History

Early History

Ancient history Batumi is purported to be located on the site of one of the Greek colonies on the coast of Colchis. Its environs the ancient Greeks named Bathus Limen or Bathys Limen (i.e., "deep harbor", a description rightfully applicable to the gulf on which Batumi itself stands), whence the city’s modern name. This Bathys is sometimes identified with Portus altus, possibly a Latin rendition of the locale’s Greek name, of the Tabula Peutingeriana, a road map from the Roman period.

The earliest archaeologically confirmed settlement on the territory of present-day Batumi dates to the 8th-7th century BC. It is located along the Karolitskhali River and centered on a hillock which is now popularly referred to as Tamar’s Fortress after the medieval Georgian queen Tamar (r. 1184-1213). A number of unearthed imported items, fragments of amphorae among them, testify to the Greek influence there. The locale was a home to a Roman military fort during the reign of Hadrian (r. 117-138 AD), but was deserted for the fortress of Petra constructed under Justinian I (r. 527-565) on the site of the present-day Tsikhis-Dziri to the north of Batumi.