One of the oldest cities in Georgia, Batumi was founded in the 8th century, but the initial settlement, Batus, is mentioned in texts that date back to the 4th century BC. Batumi’s interesting historical past has considerably influenced the architectural diversity of city (a number of projects were completed by European architects during the Porto Franco period). Old Batumi's most historical part is stretched between the seaport and the Boulevard, and features distinctive building facades and balconies.
In antique times the local population used to have active trade relations with the neighboring as well as distant countries. During the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (2nd c CE) there used to be a Roman military camp on the territory of present Batumi.
Batumi has always been distinguished by favorable natural and strategic location. From 18th century Batumi was under the Ottoman rule. After the Turkish-Russian war of 1877-1878 and the consideration the Berlin Treaty Batumi became the inseparable constituent part of Georgia. In 1878-1886 Batumi Port was announced as “Porto Franco” that fostered the further development of the city. After the construction of Baku – Batumi railway system (1883), reconstruction of the Batumi port and connection to Baku via pipelines (1897-1907) Batumi became an important sea terminal along the Black Sea littoral. The Caspian Sea oil products were transferred from this location to other countries. In 1918 and 1920 the city was governed by the Ottomans and the British respectively.
Interesting historical past has considerably preconditioned architectural diversity of Batumi (a number of interesting projects were accomplished by European architects during the Porto Franco period). During the soviet and post-soviet times it was also turned into a popular seaport and tourist city.
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