Editing Batumi (section)

==History==
{{Quote box |width=25em |align=right |title_bg=#B0C4DE
|title=Timeline of Batumi <br><small>Historical affiliations</small>
|fontsize=80% |quote={{Noflag|[[Lazica]]}} (to 780)<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Egris-Abkhazia v2.svg}} [[Kingdom of Abkhazia]], 780–1010<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of Kingdom of Georgia.svg}} [[Kingdom of Georgia]], 1010–1455<br>
[[File:Coat of arms of Kingdom of Imereti.svg |Coat of arms of Kingdom of Imereti. |23px]] [[Kingdom of Imereti]] 1455–1703<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of the_Ottoman_Empire.svg}} [[Ottoman Empire]], 1703–1878<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of Russia.svg}} [[Russian Empire]], 1878–1918<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of Batumi.png}} [[British Empire]], 1918–1920<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of Georgia (1918-1921).svg}} [[Democratic Republic of Georgia|Dem. Rep. of Georgia]], 1920–1921<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag of USSR.svg}} [[USSR]] ([[Adjar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Adj. ASSR]] in [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|G.SSR]]) 1921–1991<br/>
{{flag|Adjara|2000}} (''[[de facto]]'' independent, ''[[de jure]]'' part of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]) 1991–2004<br>
{{flag|Georgia|1991}} ([[Adjara|AR of Adjara]]), 1991 (2004)–present
}}
{{Main|History of Batumi|Timeline of Batumi}}

===Early history===
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Batumi is located on the site of the [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] colony in [[Colchis]] called "''Bathus"'' or "''Bathys"'', derived from ({{langx|grc|βαθύς λιμεν}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|bathus limen}}; or {{lang|grc|βαθύς λιμήν}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|bathys limēn}}; [[literal translation|lit.]] the 'deep harbor'). Under [[Hadrian]] ({{circa|117–138 AD}}), it was converted into a fortified [[Roman Empire|Roman]] port and later deserted for the fortress of [[Petra, Lazica|Petra]] founded in the time of [[Justinian I]] ({{circa|527–565}}). Garrisoned by the Roman-[[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] forces, it was formally a possession of the kingdom of [[Lazica]] until being occupied briefly by the [[Caliphate|Arabs]], who did not hold it; In 780 Lazica fell to [[kingdom of Abkhazia]] via a dynastic union; the latter led the [[unification of the Georgian monarchy]] in the 11th century.

From 1010, it was governed by the {{lang|ka-Latn|[[eristavi]]}} ({{lang|ka|ერისთავი}}, viceroy) of the king of Georgia. In the late 15th century, after the [[Triarchy and collapse of the Kingdom of Georgia|disintegration of the Georgian kingdom]], Batumi passed to the princes ({{lang|ka-Latn|[[mtavari]]}}, {{lang|ka|მთავარი}}) of [[Principality of Guria|Guria]], a western Georgian principality under the sovereignty of the [[kingdom of Imereti|kings of Imereti]].

A curious incident occurred in 1444 when a [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian]] flotilla, after a failed [[Crusades|crusade]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]], penetrated the Black Sea and engaged in piracy along its eastern coastline until the Burgundians under the knight [[Geoffroy de Thoisy]] were ambushed while landing to raid Vaty, as Europeans then knew Batumi. De Thoisy was taken captive and released through the mediation of the [[empire of Trebizond|emperor]] [[John IV of Trebizond]].

===Ottoman rule===
{{unreferencedsect|date=January 2025}}
In the 15th century in the reign of the prince [[Kakhaber II Gurieli|Kakhaber Gurieli]], the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] conquered the town and its district but did not hold them. They returned to it in force a century later and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Georgian armies at [[Battle of Sokhoista|Sokhoista]]. Batumi was recaptured by the Georgians several times, first in 1546 by prince [[Rostom Gurieli]], who lost it soon afterwards, and again in 1609 by [[Mamia II Gurieli]]. In 1703, Batumi again became part of the Ottoman Empire. In the one-and-a-half century of Ottoman rule it grew into a provincial port serving the Empire's hinterlands on the eastern fringes of the [[Black Sea]]. After the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] conquest, [[Islamization]] of the hitherto Christian region began but this was terminated and to a great degree reversed, after the area was annexed to Russian Imperial Georgia after the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78]].

===Imperial Russian rule===
It was the last Black Sea port annexed by Russia during the [[Russian conquest of the Caucasus#Black Sea Coast|Russian conquest]] of that area of the Caucasus. In 1878, Batumi was annexed by the [[Russian Empire]] in accordance with the [[Treaty of San Stefano]] between Russia and the Ottoman Empire (ratified on 23 March)<!-- O.S.? N.S.? Say so at least this once. -->. Occupied by the Russians on 28 August 1878, the town was declared a [[free port]] until 1886. It functioned as the center of a special military district until being incorporated in the [[Kutaisi Governorate]] on 12 June 1883.{{cn|date=January 2025}} Finally, on 1 June 1903, with the [[Artvin Okrug]], the [[Batum Okrug]] was established as the [[Batum Oblast]] and placed under the direct administration of the [[Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917)|Viceroy of the Caucasus]].{{cn|date=January 2025}}

The expansion of Batumi began with the construction of the Batumi–[[Tiflis]]–[[Baku]] [[Transcaucasus Railway]] (completed in 1883<ref name=kotov>{{cite web |url=http://kipsinfo.ru/stati-kips-info/iz-istorii-yuzhno-kavkazskoi-zheleznoi-dorogi |title="Из истории Южно-Кавказской железной дороги" ("From the History of the South Caucasus Railway") |author=А.Э. Котов (A.E. Kotov) |language=Russian |date=17 July 2009 |access-date=31 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906172133/http://kipsinfo.ru/stati-kips-info/iz-istorii-yuzhno-kavkazskoi-zheleznoi-dorogi |archive-date=6 September 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=bnito>{{cite web|url=https://ourbaku.com/index.php/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE-%D0%A7%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%84%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC%D1%8B%D1%88%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D0%B8_%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%89%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE_(%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%83)_-_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%88%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B4%D1%8B_%D0%B8_%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%83 |title=Каспийско-Черноморское нефтепромышленное и торговое общество (Баку) - Ротшильды и Баку  |trans-title=Caspian-Black Sea Oil Industry and Trade Society – Rothschilds and Baku|publisher=Our Baku|language=Russian|access-date=31 December 2021}}</ref>), and the [[Baku]]–Batumi pipeline which opened in 1907.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.visions.az/en/news/618/3b2f9122/ | title=Baku-Batumi – The world's longest pipeline |publisher=Visions of Azerbaijan |language=English | date=February 2015 |author=Mir-Yusif Mir-Babayev | access-date=31 December 2021 }}</ref> Henceforth, Batumi became the chief Russian oil port in the Black Sea. The population increased rapidly doubling within 20 years: from 8,671 inhabitants in 1882 to 12,000 in 1889. By 1902 the population had reached 16,000, with 1,000 working in the refinery for [[Baron Rothschild]]'s [[Bnito|Caspian and Black Sea Oil Company]].<ref>Simon Sebag Montefiore, Young Stalin, page 77.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Yergin |first1=Daniel |title=The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power |date=1991 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=9780671799328 |pages=60–61}}</ref>

In the late 1880s and after, more than 7,400 [[Doukhobor]] emigrants sailed for Canada from Batumi, after the government agreed to let them emigrate.{{cn|date=January 2025}} Quakers and Tolstoyans aided in collecting funds for the relocation of the religious minority, which had come into conflict with the Imperial government over its refusal to serve in the military and other positions. Canada settled them in [[Manitoba]] and [[Saskatchewan]].{{cn|date=January 2025}}

===Russian Civil War, Soviet Union, and 1991 independence===
During 1901, sixteen years prior to the [[October Revolution]], [[Joseph Stalin]], the future leader of the [[Soviet Union]], lived in the city organizing strikes. On 3 March 1918, the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] gave the city back to the Ottoman Empire, confirmed in the [[Treaty of Batum]] of June 1918 between the Ottoman Empire and the new [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]]. As result of the end of [[World War I]] the British took control over Batumi from December 1918,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andersen |first1=Andrew |title=Abkhazia and Sochi – The roots of the conflict 1918-1921 |date=2014 |publisher=Asteroid Publishing |isbn=978-1495381454 |pages=71}}</ref> who stayed until July 1920 when the city and province was transferred to the Democratic Republic of Georgia, which gave [[Adjara]] autonomy. In 1921 [[Kemal Atatürk]] [[Treaty of Kars|ceded]] the northern part of Adjara, including Batumi, to the [[Bolshevik]]s who reconquered the [[South Caucasus|Transcaucasian]] republics, on the condition that it be granted autonomy for the sake of the Muslims among Batumi's mixed population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nazaroff |first=Alexander |date=1922 |title=Russia's Treaty with Turkey |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45330678 |journal=Current History |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=276–279 |jstor=45330678 |issn=2641-080X}}</ref>

When Georgia regained its independence from the [[Soviet Union]] in 1991, [[Aslan Abashidze]] was appointed head of Adjara's governing council and subsequently held onto power throughout the unrest of the 1990s. While [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]] areas attempted to break away from the Georgian state, Adjara remained an integral part of the republic. Instead, Abashidze turned Adjara into his personal fiefdom.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3683629.stm|title=Aslan Abashidze|publisher=BBC|language=English|date=4 May 2004|access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref> In May 2004, he fled to Russia<ref>{{cite news|url=https://old.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6880|title=Abashidze Flees Georgia|publisher=Civil.ge|language=English|date=6 May 2004|access-date=31 December 2021}}</ref> after mass protests in Batumi,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://old.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6861|title=15,000 Protesters Demand Abashidze's Resignation|publisher=Civil.ge|language=English|date=5 May 2004|access-date=31 December 2021}}</ref> which concluded the [[2004 Adjara crisis]].

===Post-1991===
Batumi today is one of the main port cities of Georgia. It has the capacity for 80,000-ton tankers{{cn|date=January 2025}} to take materials such as oil that are shipped through Georgia from Central Asia. Additionally, the city exports regional agricultural products. Since 1995 the freight conversion of the port has constantly risen, with an approximate 8&nbsp;million tons in 2001. The annual revenue from the port is estimated at between $200 million and $300 million.{{cn|date=January 2025}}
[[File:20241123 Batumi 6.jpg|thumb|left|Batumi at night, with lighted stadium in the centre]]
[[File:Changing skyline of Batumi, Georgia.jpg|thumb|As Georgia's Black Sea coast continues to develop, high-rises are being built amongst Batumi's traditionally [[classical architecture|classical]] cityscapes.]]

Since the change of power in Adjara, Batumi has attracted international investors, and the prices of real estate in the city have trebled since 2001. In July 2007, the seat of the Constitutional Court of Georgia was moved from Tbilisi to Batumi to stimulate regional development.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.constcourt.ge/constc/public/index.php/ka|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721030206/http://www.constcourt.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=13|url-status=dead|title=საქართველოს საკონსტიტუციო სასამართლო|archive-date=21 July 2011|website=constcourt.ge}}</ref> Several new hotels opened after 2009, first the [[Sheraton Hotels and Resorts|Sheraton]] in 2010 and the [[Radisson Blu]] in 2011.{{cn|date=January 2025}} The city features several casinos that attract tourists from Turkey, where gambling is illegal.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Batumi was host to the Russian [[12th Military Base]]. Following the [[Rose Revolution]], the central government pushed for the removal of these forces and reached an agreement in 2005 with Moscow. According to the agreement, the process of withdrawal was planned to be completed in 2008, but the Russians completed the transfer of the Batumi base to Georgia on 13 November 2007, ahead of schedule.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16321|title= Russia Hands Over Batumi Military Base to Georgia|publisher= Civil Georgia, Tbilisi|date= 13 November 2007|access-date= 13 November 2007|archive-date= 14 May 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110514043306/http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=16321|url-status= live}}</ref>