Adjara

Adjara is an Autonomous Republic within Georgia and the country's premier summer holiday destination. There's nowhere quite like it on a luxuriously warm evening, the coastal cliffs topped by swaying bamboo forests, tea farms and the sun hanging, ablaze over the Black Sea.

The port city of Batumi is the capital of Adjara, an exotic bustling resort town full of energy and self-confidence.

History

The Autonomous Republic of Adjara was one of Georgia's secessionist provinces. Colonised by Greeks in the 5th century BC, the region fell under Roman rule in the 2nd century BC before being incorporated into the unified Georgian Kingdom and then falling under Ottoman control - neoclassical mini-palaces still line the waterfront. The expanding Russian Empire took over Adjara in the late 19th century before it was ultimately ceded to Georgia.

It was around this time that Adjara became renowned as a seaside jewel, the Black Sea Riviera that families like the Rothschilds and Nobels chose as their elegant summer retreat.