The history of the seaside park begins in 1881, when the city police chief Voznesenski critically assessed the lack of a suitable place for seaside walks in Batumi and, considering the subtropical climate, came up with the idea to lay out a boulevard. To begin with, 2,000 rubles were requested from the city administration, however, the start of the planned works was delayed and only at the end of 1884 it was possible to start landscaping the boulevard.
The works started with the plan of Prussian gardeners Ressler and Reyer. Alexander Ressler was invited to Batumi from Poti, where he had carried out serious works for the greening of the city. From the summer of 1884, he began to create a boulevard along the northern coast of the sea. After Ressler's death in 1884, the successful work was taken over by the French nobleman, famous gardener Michael D'Alfons. His contribution to the planning of the boulevard is so great that in historical sources, D'Alfons is referred to as "the kind genius of the Batumi coast". He enriched the boulevard with precious and rare plants brought from his own garden in Chakvi. The next stage of the development of the boulevard is connected with the gardener-decorator Jason Gordeziani, who, using the knowledge obtained at the National Agricultural Institute of Versailles, refreshed the vegetation, expanded the old and created new nurseries. In 1889, as part of the boulevard development project, about twenty magnolia trees were planted here.
The history of Batumi Boulevard covers a three-century, continuous cycle, at every stage of which this beautiful seaside park was enriched and acquired sacred significance. Today, it is the most visited and characteristic landmark of our city.
Development stages of Batumi Boulevard
Batumi Boulevard has gone through many stages of development, however, from its foundation to the present, three main stages of the boulevard's evolution can be distinguished, during which its formation took place:
Foundation and development of Batumi Boulevard in the initial stage (1884-1921)
Batumi Boulevard in the Soviet period (1921-1990)
Batumi Boulevard in the post-Soviet period (1990-2014)
Modern Boulevard (from 2014 to present)
The change in the political situation was reflected first of all in its name. Initially, the boulevard was named after Nicholas II, the heir to the throne of the Russian emperor, later, during the Soviet period, after A. Sadzhaya, and in the 1950s it was named after I. Stalin. At the beginning of the 20th century, the boulevard was a wonderful place for recreation. It was also called little "Nice". There were buildings for various purposes on the boulevard, such as the "Burun-Tabie" fortress and the "Lighthouse", created by French engineers in 1882 and preserved to this day. The building of strategic importance performed a navigation function. Since its creation, the boulevard has become a favorite place for Batumi residents and guests of the city. It was not only a place for walks, but also offered many options for recreation and entertainment for people with different interests. 1884-1921 The boulevard housed entertainment, sports, recreational and educational facilities, including: Boyajian sea healing baths, hydrotherapy facility, multipurpose building of the public council, a reading room, a cinema, an information office. Part of the boulevard was intended for active recreation, which was served by open sports grounds: croquet, tennis, skittles, gymnastics, as well as a skating rink, a hippodrome, a bike path, etc.
In the 1930s and 1950s, the boulevard was expanded, while the planning retained the main feature of the network of parallel longitudinal alleys and their intersecting walkways on the line of the city streets. There were quite a few changes in the dendrology of the boulevard. This process is associated with the gardener Jason Gordeziani (1876-1960). In 1933, under Gordeziani's initiative and leadership, the entire renovation of the boulevard plantings was carried out. As mentioned in historical sources, there was no soil in the entire area of the boulevard. It was covered with a thick layer of clay and sand, which the Chorokhi River carried into the sea, so the plants were planted in 1-2 meter deep pits, in which the clay was artificially replaced with soil. Coniferous and decorative trees, cypresses, and shrubs were planted. Along with the renewal of the seaside park plantings, new architectural accents appear on the boulevard: colonnades, a stage, a stadium, public catering facilities. With the advent of the new millennium, the development of the boulevard continued at an even faster pace.
In the 1930s, a colonnade was installed at the central entrance of the boulevard, and the area was surrounded by a ornamental fence decorated with flowerpots, sculptures and arches. In 1934, the first colonnade of the boulevard was built, serving as a sea gate, which has been preserved in its authentic form to this day. The idea of building the colonnades belonged to Ivane Mchedlidze, a famous doctor from Batumi. Before the retreat of the coastline, the colonnade was the central entrance to the beach. By 1959, as a result of the retreat of the sea, an additional 6-meter promenade, divided by lawns, was built on a large area freed up along the coast. In 1930-1950, the alley of the central entrance was decorated with flower beds and a round fountain.
In the 1950-1960s, the walking paths gradually expanded. In 1977, colorful musical fountains were installed at the central entrance to the boulevard. (architect G. Erkomaishvili, engineers G. Abramiani, A. Kazhoyani). On the left side of the alley of Dancing Fountains, an area has been set aside for planting a bamboo grove. During the same period, an artificial lake was organized on the boulevard. Swan lake and a zoo-corner around it. From the beginning, the boulevard was characterized by its functional diversity, active and passive recreation areas were allocated on the territory. During the Soviet period, when constructing objects, the choice was made in favor of classicism architecture, striking examples of which were: colonnades, the Salkhino restaurant, etc. Since the 1960s, on modernist architecture. In 1948, Summer theater with a light wooden construction without nails, designed for 600 spectators, was built on the boulevard. It burned down in 1996 and was returned to the city in a renewed form in 2013. In 1975, "Cafe Fantasia" (Octopus) was built near the university - a mosaic pavilion, the authors of which were the artist Zurab Kapanadze and the architect Georgiy Chakhava.