Museums of Adjara

Khariton Akhvlediani Adjara State Museum

Khariton Akhvlediani Adjara State Museum was founded in 1908 as a school museum on the initiative of a group of teachers and public figures of Batumi.

The museum was located at the corner of Voznesensky and Olgha (present P. Melikishvili and Vakhtang Gorgasali) streets.

From 22 May, 1910 the museum was moved to the 1st floor of the City Council. In 1912 by the decision of the City Council the museum was made into a city museum. Until 1924 it was a mixed type museum but from the year 1925 it became a History Museum of Adjara and was moved to the former military cathedral where it stayed until 1930.

From 25 January, 1930 the museum was placed in the Treasury building in 4, Guria Lane (present Jincharadze Street). After Nikolai Gomman from February, 1938 till May, 1989 the director of the museum was Khariton Akhvlediani – a prominent scholar and public figure, experienced museum professional. The formation of the museum as a local history scientific-educational institution is connected to his name.

In 1957 the second floor was added to the building and the museum took its present appearance. It is one of the oldest scientific-educational institutions where 180 000 exhibits are kept: unique items, collections, photos, works of art, over 100 items are preserved at the gold treasuries of the museum.

Over 2000 rare manuscripts in Georgian, Russian, Armenian, Arabic, Turkish, Persian and other languages are preserved at the manuscript fund while the library contains 63000 books in various languages. Most of them are bibliographical rarities.