☰Gonio-Apsaros Fortress

Gonio-Apsaros Fortress stands about 12km south of Batumi, near the Turkish border, on a site of extraordinary historical weight. It was one of the easternmost citadels of the Roman Empire and later of Byzantium, guarding the mouth of the Chorokhi River and the road into the Caucasian interior. The fortress is connected to the myth of the Argonauts — legend holds that this is where King Aeëtes buried his son Apsyros. Excavations have turned up Hellenistic period coins, golden jewellery (the Gonio Treasury), and Roman-era mosaics. The Museum-Reserve on site is small but worthwhile. The walls are well-preserved and the setting — squeezed between the river and the sea, with the Pontic mountains behind — is striking.