Europe Square

A square in the centre of Batumi, laid out in the 2000s as a formal civic space. Its dominant feature is a column about thirty metres high with a statue of Medea on top: the Colchian princess holding the Golden Fleece.

Medea

The monument, by David Khmaladze, was put up in 2007, and its point is direct: in the myth the Argonauts sailed for the fleece to Colchis, on the territory of present-day western Georgia, and Medea helped Jason take it. The pedestal carries an image of the ship Argo.

The buildings around

Around the column stand buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with turrets and mouldings. Some have been restored, others built anew in the same manner: Batumi filled up with pastiche in those years, and telling old from new at a glance is not always possible.

The clock

An astronomical clock works on the facade of the former National Bank, showing not only the time but the phases of the moon and the positions of the planets. It is one of the few things on the square worth examining close up rather than in a wide shot.

In the evening

A fountain plays in the middle of the square, its jets rising straight out of the pavement. Everything is lit at night, and the square together with the seafront becomes the main place for a walk; the cafe terraces around it open at the same hour.

Address

Europe Square, Batumi · the old town

Opening hours

Always open

Prices

Free

On the map