The ancient ceramic vase, seen above, was discovered during archeological explorations in Adjara in 1974. In the collections of the Adjarian Museums, the vase is one of three similar rare historic treasures. The other two are in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Louvre.

The ancient Greeks referred to the Georgia’s Black Sea Coast as Kolkhida and thought of it as a distant and wealthy land of gold. A thousand years before Christ Greek heroes left to seek their fortune in this land of treasure and plenty. The story of their voyage has been recounted down through the ages as part of the mythic travels of Jason and the Argonauts. Their ship was named “Argo”, and its heroes – the Argonauts. As the myth has the story, the Argonauts reached the “hospitable sea” of Kokhida in present day Adjara.

In the 1980s the English traveller and geographer Tim Severyn undertook a three month adventure to following in the Argonauts footsteps. The expedition visited Adjara in a ship that was an exact copy of the Argonaut vessel. Archaeologists say that the Black Sea coastline of Adjara was one of the highly developed civilizations in ancient times. Findings of the modern voyagers confirmed some of the archaeological research, particularly with regard to the presence of monuments from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages.

This late 20th Century exploration proved for many that the Kolkhida mentioned in the legend about the Argonauts was not mythic but based in reality.