Batumi Boulevard, where to go in Batumi, where to walk, what's interesting in Batumi

The capital of Adjara, Batumi, is located in a deep, well-protected bay - on the shore of the Gulf of Batumi, at the mouth of the rivers Bartskhani and Korolistskali. Batumi is an ancient city: as a result of archaeological finds, the remains of settlements dating back to the II-I centuries BC were discovered here

. And already in the I century AD, the Roman naturalist and philosopher Pliny the Elder in his work "History of Nature" calls the seaport of Batumi "Batis". In all likelihood, in the ancient era, Batumi, as a seaport, performed an important transit function and had close trade relations with neighboring and distant countries.

For centuries, the importance of Batumi as a seaport was so great that the Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and Russians constantly tried to take possession of it. At the beginning of the XX century, in 1919, the city occupied by the British was ruled by the British Governor-General.

In 1878-1886, Batumi was declared a port-franco (port-franco is the name of ports where imported goods can be imported and exported without customs duty). During the same period, the Batumi-Baku railway line was opened (1883) and an oil pipeline was built (1897-1907), which contributed to the expansion of the city.

At that time, industrial magnates were operating in Batumi: Swedes, brothers Alfred, Robert and Ludwig Nobel, as well as Baron Alphonse de Rothschild. It is the Nobel brothers who are credited with the opening of the railway and the terminal. The Nobel Museum is now located in the house where the brothers kept an office. And in the Rothschild house, for the construction of which the baron brought bricks from France (he also brought workers from there), there is currently a Batumi maternity hospital.

In 1881, a park was laid out in the center of Batumi, around the small Nuri-Geli lake (area - 0.06 km2). In 1888, in honor of the visit of the Russian Emperor Alexander to Batumi, the park was named "Alexandrovsky".

In 1947, the first swings and rides were installed in the park. In 1966, an aquarium was opened, in which there are more than a hundred species of inhabitants of fresh water, seas and oceans. In 1975, the first dolphinarium in the former Soviet Union was built in the park.

Currently, the park is called "Central Park". Its area is 165,000 m2. In 1954, the central entrance of the park was built — a colonnade in the Greek style, in the center of which there is a monument to the first Adjarian pilot Fadiko Gogitidze.

In recent years, a lot of work has been done to improve the appearance of the city. World-famous brands have built their hotels here, the boulevard has been renovated, numerous bungalows, cafe-lounges, restaurants, children's attractions have filled the coastal strip, various sculptures and fountains have decorated the streets and squares.

In 2010, at the beginning of the boulevard, 8-meter—high moving figures were placed - the sculpture "Ali and Nino" (characters from the novel by Azerbaijani writer Kurban Said). The author of the monument is Georgian sculptures Tamara Kvesitadze. The monument is a symbol of understanding. eternal love and international understanding.

In the old boulevard there are life-size sculptural figures of a woman and a man sitting at a table and drinking coffee (by sculptor Irakli Tsuladze). Another figure is the image of the famous gardener Mikhail D'alfons (Author David Bolkvadze). Several sculptures from the series "Funny Figures" and "Variations on the theme of Love" (by the Georgian sculptor - Gela Tsuladze) are also placed on the boulevard

In 2009, a musical fountain was installed on the border of the old and new boulevard – on the small Ardagani lake. Every evening a beautiful laser show is held here.