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Batumi (Georgian ??????, formerly Batum or Batoum) is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. It has a population of 121,806 (2002 census). Batumi, with its large port and commercial center, is also the last stop of the Transcaucasian railroad and the Baku oil pipeline. It is situated some 20 km (12 mi) from the Turkish border, in a subtropical zone, rich in citrus fruit and tea. Industries included shipbuilding, food processing, and light manufacturing. Batumi is located on the site of the ancient Greek colony in Colchis called Bathus or Bathys - derived from the Greek phrase bathus limen or bathys limin meaning "deep harbour". Under Hadrian (r. 117-138 AD), it was converted into a fortified Roman port later deserted for the fortress of Petra founded in the times of Justinian I (r. 527-565). Garrisoned by the Roman/Byzantine forces, it was formally a possession of the kingdom of Lazica until being occupied briefly by the Arabs who did not hold it; in the 9th century it formed part of the Bagratid monarchy of Tao-Klarjeti, and at the close of the 10th century of the unified kingdom of Georgia which succeeded it. From 1010, it was governed by the eristavi (viceroy) of the king of Georgia. In the late 14th century, after the disintegration of the Georgian kingdom, Batumi passed to the princes (mtavari) of Guria, a western Georgian principality under the nominal sovereignty of the kings of Imereti. A curious incident occurred in 1444 when the Burgundian flotilla, after a failed 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 during their landing raid at the port of Vaty as Europeans then knew Batumi. De Thoisy was taken captive and released through the mediation of the emperor John IV of Trebizond.
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