Khariton Akhvlediani Adjara State Museum

Khariton Akhvlediani Adjara Museum is one of Georgia's oldest museums and a true portal into the rich history, culture, and nature of this unique region. The museum was founded back in 1908 on the initiative of local teachers and public figures as a school museum under the Pushkin municipal school. Today, more than 180 thousand unique exhibits are preserved in the museum. Since 2005, the museum has proudly borne the name of Khariton Akhvlediani, its longtime director who made an invaluable contribution to its development by organizing expeditions, collecting valuable artifacts and manuscripts, and inspiring youth to study archeology.

The museum's exhibition is divided into four main departments: nature, archaeology, ethnography, and history, covering the region's development from the Stone Age to the present day. Visitors can see ancient artifacts, including items from the Bronze and Iron Ages, unique finds from archaeological excavations, household items, vintage photographs, and scale models of Batumi from different eras. The museum's Golden Treasury deserves special attention, housing exquisite gilded items, including a gold flacon and pendants depicting Helios. The nature department introduces the geology, flora, and fauna of Adjara, including specimens from the 15-million-year-old "petrified forest" of Goderdzi.

The museum garden also preserves intriguing exhibits: here you can see an impressive 18-meter whale skeleton donated by captains, the first tractor that appeared in Adjara, and fragments of ancient monuments. In addition to the exhibition halls, a scientific library has been operating at the museum since 1937, numbering around 65,000 publications, including numerous rare books and manuscripts in different languages. The Adjara State Museum is a fascinating journey through time, allowing deep immersion into the past and present of this remarkable corner of Georgia.