Poti

Poti lies along Georgia’s Black Sea coast where the Rioni River meets the sea, on land once settled by ancient Greeks as the city of Phasis. Today, ships come and go from its active port, overlooked by a red-and-white lighthouse constructed with British materials in the 1800s. The gold-domed Resurrection Cathedral rises above the city, its design inspired by Byzantine churches. To the south, Kolkheti National Park stretches across wetlands filled with rare plants and animals. Walk streets laid out in a grid pattern by 19th-century planners, try cornmeal dishes unique to the Megrelian region, and see mosaics from the Soviet era in Central Park.

History and City Growth

Poti began as the Greek settlement of Phasis around 600 BCE, later mentioned in stories about Jason and the Argonauts searching for the Golden Fleece. The city you see today took shape after 1872, when mayor Niko Nikoladze worked with German architect Edmund Frick to create wide streets and sturdy buildings for a modern port. Their plans included Georgia’s first railway connecting Poti to Tbilisi, completed in 1872. You can still see remnants from this era, including a clock tower built during Ottoman rule and the iron lighthouse imported from England. Though Russian forces occupied Poti briefly during the 2008 war, the port now operates at full capacity, moving goods across the Black Sea.

Central Area Sights

Begin at the Poti Lighthouse, a striped iron tower from 1862 that still lights the harbor entrance. Five minutes west stands the Resurrection Cathedral, completed in 2005 with a central dome resembling Istanbul’s famous Hagia Sophia. In Central Park, shaded paths wind past a Soviet-era mosaic on a bandstand and the stone foundations of a 16th-century Turkish fort. The Giorgi Chitaia Museum displays arrowheads from the Bronze Age, clay pottery, and silver coins found in the region. Look for the bronze statue of French novelist Alexandre Dumas near the port entrance—he visited Poti in 1858 while writing travel essays.

Kolkheti Wetlands and Lake Paliastomi

Five kilometers south of Poti, Kolkheti National Park preserves swamps and forests that survived the last Ice Age. Guided boat tours take visitors across Lake Paliastomi, where you might see wild horses grazing near shorelines or Dalmatian pelicans diving for fish. Local guides use flat-bottomed boats to move through narrow channels between stands of ancient boxwood trees. Between March and May, thousands of migratory birds stop here, including purple herons and glossy ibises. Many visitors combine a park visit with Ureki Beach’s distinctive black sands, 24 kilometers north, which contain magnetic iron particles.

The Port’s Role in Georgia’s Economy

As Georgia’s busiest commercial port, Poti handles most container shipments entering the country, particularly goods bound for Armenia and Azerbaijan. A 2008 agreement created a special economic zone here, attracting companies involved in manufacturing and shipping. Environmental groups have raised concerns about pollution from port expansion projects near protected wetlands. While tourists can’t enter the secure port area, you can watch ships being loaded from the nearby breakwater or visit the small Seaport Museum with models of historic vessels. The Georgian Navy maintains its main base here, patrolling the country’s coastline.

Food and Where to Eat

Local restaurants specialize in Megrelian cuisine, which uses plenty of chili peppers and walnuts. Order elarji—a sticky dish made from cornmeal and sulguni cheese—or try kupati sausages spiced with pomegranate. Grilled turbot and red mullet caught in the Black Sea come topped with spicy adjika sauce. At the central market, vendors sell churchkhela (grape-juice candies with walnuts) and pickled jonjoli shoots from local bushes. Most dining options cluster around the port area, with simple cafes serving khachapuri cheese bread and bean soups favored by dockworkers.

Visiting Information

Take the daytime train from Tbilisi to Poti (6 hours) or drive from Batumi in under two hours. July and August bring the warmest weather for swimming at Maltaqva Beach, though the water stays shallow even 100 meters from shore. Wear sturdy shoes that can get muddy for wetland walks, and reserve boat tours through Kolkheti National Park’s official site 24 hours ahead. Central Poti is easy to explore on foot, but hire a taxi for trips to Ureki or the park entrance. Few English translations exist on street signs, so keep a Georgian phrase app handy.