Poti (Georgian:ფოთი[pʰo̞t̪ʰi];Mingrelian: ფუთი,puti;Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is aport city inGeorgia, located on the easternBlack Sea coast in theregion ofSamegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near the site of theancient Greek colony ofPhasis and deriving its name from the same, the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century. It is also home to a main naval base and the headquarters of theGeorgian Navy.
The name Poti is linked to Phasis, but the etymology is a matter of a scholarly dispute. "Phasis" (Greek:Φάσις) is first recorded inHesiod'sTheogony (c. 700 BC) as a name of theriver, not a town. SinceErich Diehl, 1938, first suggested a non-Hellenic origin of the name and asserted that Phasis might have been a derivative of a localhydronym, several explanations have been proposed, linking the name to theProto-Georgian-Zan*Poti,Svan*Pasid, and even to aSemitic word, meaning "a gold river".[2]
The recorded history of Poti and its environments spans over 26 centuries. InClassical antiquity and theearly Middle Ages, the area was occupied by theGreekpolis ofPhasis which was established by the colonists fromMiletus led by one Themistagoras at the very end of the 7th, and probably at the beginning of the 6th century BC. The famed Greek semi-mythological voyage ofJason and theArgonauts in search of the Golden Fleece would have entered Georgia at this port and traveled up the river to what is todayKutaisi.
After many years of uncertainty and academic debate, the site of this settlement now seems to be established, thanks to underwater archaeology under tough conditions. Apparently, the lake which the well-informed Ancient Greek authorStrabo reported as bounding one side of Phasis has now engulfed it, or part of it. Yet, a series of questions regarding the town’s exact location and identification of its ruins remain open due largely to the centuries-long geomorphological processes of the area as the lower reaches of the Rioni are prone to changes of course across the wetland. Phasis appears to have been an important center of trade and culture inColchis throughout the Classical period.[3][4] The section along the river Phasis was a vital component of the presumed trade route from India to the Black Sea, attested by Strabo andPliny.[5]
Between the 6th and 2nd centuries BC, the town played an active role in these contacts. During theThird Mithridatic War, Phasis came underRoman control. It was where the Roman commander-in-chiefPompey, having crossed into Colchis fromIberia, met thelegate Servilius, the admiral of his Euxine fleet in 65 BC.[6] After the introduction ofChristianity, Phasis was a seat of a Greek diocese, one of whose bishops, Cyrus, became aPatriarch of Alexandria between 630 and 641 AD. During theLazic War between theEastern Roman andSassanid Iranian empires (542-562), Phasis was attacked, unsuccessfully, by Iranian soldiers.
In the 8th century, the name Poti entered Georgian written sources. It remained a place of maritime trade within theKingdom of Georgia and was known to medieval European travelers as Fasso.[7] In the 14th century, theGenoese established a trading factory, which proved to be short-lived.
Ali Pasha's conquest of the Poti Castle and repair of the castle in 1578-1579.Şahanşahname (TSKM B.200, 1582–1588)
In 1578, Poti was conquered by theOttoman Empire. The Turks, who knew the town as Faş, heavily fortified it and made it into one of their Caucasian outposts which were also home to a great slave market.[8] A combined army of the western Georgian princes recovered Poti in 1640, but the town fell under theOttoman sway again in 1723. Another futile attempt to dispossess the Ottomans of Poti was made byRusso-Georgian forces in 1770 and 1771. Once Russia took control of most of the principal Georgian lands in the 1800s, it again attempted to evict the Turkish garrison from Poti and succeeded in doing so with the help of Georgian auxiliaries under the command ofNino, Princess of Mingrelia in 1809, but was coerced to return the fortress to the Ottomans in theTreaty of Bucharest (1812). The nextRusso-Turkish War resulted in the capture of Poti byRussia in 1828. (SeeRussian conquest of the Caucasus#Black Sea Coast.) The town was subordinated to theGovernorate of Kutais and granted the status of aport town in 1858. The seaport was reconstructed between 1863 and 1905. In 1872, the town became the terminus of theTranscaucasus Railway, whence the line led directly toTiflis (Tbilisi).
Poti particularly grew in size and importance during the mayorship ofNiko Nikoladze between 1894 and 1912. Considered to be the founding father of modern Poti, Nikoladze presided over a series of modernizing and construction projects, including a theater, alarge cathedral, two gymnasia, a power station, an oil refinery, etc. By 1900, Poti had become one of the major ports on the Black Sea, exporting most of Georgia’s manganese and coal.[9] During theFirst Russian Revolution, Poti became a scene of workers' strikes and barricade fighting in December 1905.[10] At the beginning ofWorld War I, on November 7, 1914, the OttomanSMSBreslau appeared off the port of Poti and subjected the railway yards there to a bombardment that lasted three-quarters of an hour, without any direct results.[11]
During a brief period of independence in 1918–1921, Poti was Georgia’s principal window to Europe, also serving as the portal of entry for successive German and British expeditionary forces. On May 28, 1918, a German-Georgian preliminarytreaty of alliance was signed at Poti. On March 14, 1921, Poti was occupied by theinvading Red Armies ofSoviet Russia which installed a Soviet government in Georgia. During the Soviet era, Poti retained its principal function as a seaport and the town was further industrialized and militarized.
Phasis river, 19th centuryChapel near the port of Poti
Poti City Assembly (Georgian: ფოთის საკრებულო) is the representative body in Poti City, consisting of 35 members, which is elected every four years. The last election was held inOctober 2021. Beka Vacharadze ofGeorgian Dream was elected mayor through the 2nd round against a candidate of theUnited National Movement.
Poti is situated 312 kilometres (194 mi) west of Georgia’s capital,Tbilisi, in a marshy delta created by the major river of western Georgia, theRioni, at its entrance into the Black Sea. The city lies at an altitude of 2 metres (6 feet 7 inches)above sea level. A portion of Poti's environs recovered from the marshes now accommodate citrus plantation. The city is surrounded by theKolkheti National Park. It is flanked by the small river Kaparchina to the south-east andLake Paliastomi to the south-west. Some 5 kilometres (3 miles) to the south is the villageMaltaqva, a local beach resort.
The city's climate ishumid subtropical (Köppen:Cfa,Trewartha:Cf) with cool winters and hot summers. Average annual precipitation is 2,068 mm (81 in), with the highest recorded value of daily precipitation being 191.4 mm (8 in) on 23 June 2008. Only in 2.6 days per year snow cover is observed.[17]
Highest recorded temperature: 45.2 °C (113 °F) on 30 July 2000[17]
Climate data for Poti (1991–2020, extremes 1981-2020)
The service and food industries represent the most important sectors of the economy. ThePoti Sea Port (7.7 million tons per annum) is operational. The railway to Tbilisi makes this a more useful port than the natural harbor atBatumi.[19]
In April 2008, Georgia sold a 51% stake of the Poti port to the Investment Authority of theUAE’sRas Al Khaimah (RAK) emirate to develop a free industrial zone (FIZ) in a 49-year management concession, and to manage a new port terminal. The creation of a new FEZ was officially inaugurated by thePresident of GeorgiaMikheil Saakashvili on April 15, 2008.[20]
As of November 2009, there were plans for aKerch–Poti ferry route.[21]
A long haulsubmarine communications cable -Bulgaria–Georgia communications cable - stretching fromVarna,Bulgaria across the Black Sea to Poti Georgia was laid during the month of July 2008 onboard the American cable ship CSTyco Decisive, just a couple of weeks prior to the Russo-Georgian War.[22] This cable system will be Georgia's first privately owned fiber-optic system for the citizens of Georgia. Instead of paying high prices for internet/TV/phone usage through Turkey, Georgians will now be able to pay much less for their own private high-speed fiber optic cable internet cable system usage.
The fiber optic cable network being deployed 7/28/08ThePort of Poti, Georgia, in July 2008.
The Poti naval base was organized by the Soviet government in July 1941, a month after theGermaninvasion duringWorld War II. Commanded by Major-General Mikhail Kumanin, the base operated as a part of theBlack Sea Fleet and included twosubmarine divisions, atorpedo boat division, coastal guard boat division, twominesweepers, four coastal and six missile batteries, etc. After the German capture ofSevastopol andNovorossiysk in 1942, severaldestroyers were transferred to be based at Poti which, together with another Georgian port city,Batumi, functioned as a secondary harbor in theBlack Sea Campaigns (1941–44). By the early 1990s, the Poti base had accommodated several smaller units of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, but became essentially defunct after thedissolution of the Soviet Union. In December 1992, Russia withdrew all its vessels and ammunition from the Poti naval base, but an ethnic Georgian commander of one landing ship refused to obey Moscow’s order and displayed a Georgian flag. At almost the same time, the Georgian government created a Joint Naval Brigade, consisting of several boats, a battalion of marines, an artillery division, and a communication detachment. Since then, the Brigade has been enlarged and reequipped with the help of theNATO-member states.[23]
On October 9, 1993, awar-torn Georgia had to legalize the Russian military presence in the country, and lease, among other military facilities, the Poti base to the Russian navy. However, Georgia continued, though fruitlessly, to claim the vessels formerly stationed at Poti as a part of a tripartiteRusso-Ukrainian-Georgian dispute over the Soviet Black Sea Fleet shares.[24] By September 1998, the Russian military personnel had been withdrawn from Poti to the Russian base at Batumi under a Russo-Georgian agreement signed earlier that year.[25]
^Allen, W.E.D. & Muratoff, P. (1953),Caucasian Battlefields: A History of The Wars on The Turco- Caucasian Border 1828–1921, p. 248. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
^"Droni" No. 65, June 11–13, p. 5, cited in: David Darchiashvili et al. (ed., June 1998),The Army and Society in Georgia.Archived 2008-08-13 at theWayback MachineCaucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development. Accessed on April 20, 2008.
@bbc - The Georgian foreign ministry said the Black Sea port of Poti, which is the site of a major oil shipment facility, had been "devastated" by a Russian aerial bombardment.
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