In 1878 Batumi was declared a “Porto Franco”, or free port. This boost to the seaport jumped it’s importance and is the historical foundation for today’s dynamic trading center.

Batumi is a sub-tropical paradise with a magnificent central beach park, splendid cultural and governmental buildings and a sense of historical importance for it’s role as a long-time commercial, regional and political center.

Located on the Black Sea coast, with a mountainous backdrop, Adjara is one of the oldest and most picturesque regions of Georgia. The Region forms the Georgian national border with Turkey to the West.

From ancient times the area had been occupied by an ethnic group of Georgians, who became known as Adjarians. Archeologists say the territory has been inhabited since the New Stone Age. Ancient Grecian authors – Herodotus, Strabo, Xenophonte, Apollo and others – have written of the tribal peoples who lived in this part of Southern Georgia.

In the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., Adjara was part of the legendary Kolkheti Kingdom. Its coastal cities – Pichvnari, Batumi, Apsaros (the present day Gonio) are central to the legend of the Argonauts and Golden Fleece, and these port towns have played a crucial role in the political and economical life of the region for nearly 2500 years.

Adjara’s capital city of “Batumi” was first mentioned in the 4th Century B.C. in writings of Aristotle and later, known as Batisi, the town was a military base for Roman troops.

In the early Christian era Adjara was linked with names of several Apostles. St. Matthew died in Adjara and was buried near Batumi. In the 2nd Century, Adjara was incorporated in the Kingdom of Lazika, which was established in Western Georgia by Roman Legions.

Although many of Georgia’s historical monuments were destroyed near the end of the 11th Century, some in Adjara were preserved, including the Gonio Fortress, built before the time of Christ. Plinius, writing in the 1st Century B.C. mentions the Gonio Fortress in his Chronicles. An ancient church, in Skhalta, and a one-arch bridge from the period 12th century are also well preserved.

The Adjarian writer Abuseridze Tbel, working in the early 13th century was influential to the thinking of Pope Gregory XII and was instrumental in the Pope’s revisions of chronology.

During internal wars in the 15th century, Adjara was passed from hand to hand, until it became part of the domain of the Abashidze family. From 1463 to 1520, Adjara was ruled by Kakhaber Abashidze, the first in a long line of leaders who extend down to the present day. A valley near Batumi, the Kakhaber Valley, is named in honor of this early Adjarian monarch. He was succeeded by George Abashidze who ruled from 1520 to 1574. His reign came during very difficult times and it was due to his wise policy that the Ottoman Empire was stopped from an invasion attempt into Western Georgia.

But late in the 16th Century, the Ottomans did succeed in a conquest of Adjara and held power for nearly 300 years.

As part of an end to the Russo-Turkish War the lands of Adjara were taken out of the control of the Ottoman Empire and placed under the authority of Georgia, which had become under the domination of the Russian Empire. The 19th Century nationalism movement--especially a Georgian writer and political figure Ilia Chavchavadze--was a major factor in this decision, reached at the Congress of Berlin in 1878-79. The same year, Batumi was declared a free port. This treaty was among representatives of seven countries, including the Russian Emperor Alexander II and Germany’s Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck. By the end of the 19th Century Batumi was the third port in importance in the Russian Empire, after St. Petersburg and Odessa.

The Port of Batumi is linked to many important events in the history of sea shipping and numerous famous names in science--Nobel, Rothschild, Mantashev, Sideridis—were involved in Batumi. The first export of oil products by sea began in Batumi and the major pipeline connecting the huge oil fields of Azerbaijan to the sea terminated in Batumi. The construction of a railroad across Georgia from Azerbaijan to Batumi also added to the role of Batumi as a center for export of products from the Caucasus to Europe and beyond. On June 22, 1892 the “Markus”, a huge tanker ship departed Batumi for Bangkok, Thailand, becoming the first oil tanker to transit the Suez Canal.

By the end of the 19th Century, Consulates of Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Italy, Iran, United States, the Netherlands, Turkey and France, as well as Trade Representatives of Japan, Sweden and Norway, were functioning in Batumi.

With the onset of World War I, and the simultaneous explosion of the Russian Revolution, the political orientation of Georgia again became an important world political question. There was much fervor for Georgian nationalism and independence.

On May 26, 1918, the National Council of Georgia adopted The Act of Independence and the Parliament of Adjara, Chaired at the time by a descendent of the historical Abashidze family, Memed Abashidze, adopted a resolution to re-enter Georgia.

But, in March and April of 1921, Soviet Russia annexed Georgia and on March 18 the Soviets declared their power over Adjara. On July 16, 1921, a decree was passed to establish the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. The creation of the Autonomous Region was designed to overcome the difficult socio-economic conditions and to improve the level of education and culture in the region.

Though the Soviet regime lasted for more than 70 years, its dissolution in 1991 resulted in general chaos and civil war in Georgia. Adjara was the only region where peace was preserved and revival began.