Description of the attraction
Batumi Archeological Museum is one of the main cultural attractions of the city. The Archaeological Museum is located in a small two-story building on Chavchavadze Street.
The museum, which has a hundred-year history, was opened for visits in 1994. Since its opening, it has become one of the best archaeological museums not only in the city, but throughout Georgia. The collection of the museum consists of more than 22800 exhibits, most of which are finds from excavations carried out in the territory of Adjara.
In addition to the exposition itself, the Batumi Archaeological Museum also operates a restoration laboratory, in which all the exhibits stored in the museum funds are photographed and graphically recorded. In addition, there is a scientific library and a photo archive at the museum.
The interior of the museum is a huge two-storey hall. It is best to start exploring the exposition from the second floor, since it is here that exhibits from the Stone and Iron Ages are kept. Most of the Iron Age exhibits are items of the Colchian tribal culture.
The first floor of the museum is represented by exhibits related to the ancient period, as well as the early and late Middle Ages. Many exhibits were discovered by archaeologists during excavations in the ancient and medieval fortresses of Adjara. Here visitors can see a collection of Greek and Roman dishes from the antique era, Roman and Greek coins.
Among the exhibits of the ancient and Roman periods in the Batumi Archaeological Museum are various items found during archaeological excavations on the territory of the Gonio-Apsaros fortress. It also includes items from the "Gonian treasure", sculptural images, ancient jewelry, bronze and glassware. In addition, the museum exhibits a treasure from Khelvachauri, which indicates the contacts of Adjara with the Arab world in the early Middle Ages, and exhibits from the late Middle Ages, at a time when Adjara fell under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
