In 1703, Batumi again became part of the Ottoman Empire. 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. They returned to it in force a century later and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Georgian armies at Sokhoista. In the 15th century in the reign of the prince Kakhaber Gurieli, the Ottomans conquered the town and its district but did not hold them.

De Thoisy was taken captive and released through the mediation of the emperor John IV of Trebizond. In the late 15th century, after the disintegration of the Georgian kingdom, Batumi passed to the princes ( mtavari, მთავარი) of Guria, a western Georgian principality under the sovereignty of the kings of Imereti.Ī curious incident occurred in 1444 when a 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 while landing to raid Vaty, as Europeans then knew Batumi. 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 780 Lazica fell to kingdom of Abkhazia via a dynastic union the latter led the unification of the Georgian monarchy in the 11th century.įrom 1010, it was governed by the eristavi ( ერისთავი, viceroy) of the king of Georgia. 117–138 AD), it was converted into a fortified Roman port and later deserted for the fortress of Petra founded in the time of Justinian I ( c. Main articles: History of Batumi and Timeline of Batumi Early history īatumi is located on the site of the ancient Greek colony in Colchis called ' Bathus' or ' Bathys', derived from ( Greek: βαθύς λιμεν, bathus limen or βαθύς λιμήν, bathys limēn lit.

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