Kutaisi, Batumi & Western Georgia

Western Georgia was ancient Colchis, the kingdom where Greek legend placed the Golden Fleece sought by Jason and the Argonauts. Greek colonies were founded on its coast, and Rome later built forts there, among them Apsaros at Gonio near Batumi. In the sixth century the kingdom of Lazica, or Egrisi, was the prize in long wars between Byzantium and Persia. From the late eighth century a Kingdom of Abkhazia ruled the west with Kutaisi as its capital, and in 1008 Bagrat III inherited both it and Kartli, uniting Georgia. Kutaisi's Bagrati Cathedral was completed in 1003, and David the Builder founded Gelati Monastery in 1106.

After the Mongol invasions the west broke into the Kingdom of Imereti, centred on Kutaisi, and the principalities of Mingrelia, Guria, Svaneti and Abkhazia, while the Ottomans took Adjara and the coast. Russia absorbed Imereti in 1810 and the principalities over the following decades, and gained Batumi from the Ottomans in 1878. Batumi boomed as the Black Sea outlet for oil from Baku, and in 1921 Adjara became an autonomous republic within Georgia.

After independence, war in Abkhazia in 1992–93 ended with Georgian forces expelled and more than 200,000 ethnic Georgians displaced, many of whom settled in Zugdidi and other towns of Samegrelo. Russia recognised Abkhazia's independence after the 2008 war and maintains troops there; Georgia and almost all other states regard it as part of Georgia, and Georgia considers it occupied by Russia. In 2004 the autocratic Adjaran leader Aslan Abashidze was forced out, and Kutaisi hosted the national parliament from 2012 to 2018.

The west is more linguistically varied than the east. Mingrelian is spoken in Samegrelo and Svan in the high valleys of Svaneti; both are Kartvelian languages related to Georgian but not mutually intelligible with it, and neither has a written standard. Svaneti long kept its own clan loyalties and customs, and every family's stone tower served for defence. Svan festivals such as Lamproba, with torches lit in early February, and Svan chants in the old polyphonic style survive in the villages.

Guria is famous for its complex polyphonic songs, including the yodelling krimanchuli, and Gurians have a reputation for quick wit and political passion. Adjara has a significant population of Muslim Georgians, a legacy of Ottoman rule, alongside an Orthodox majority in Batumi.

Western Georgians tease easterners and vice versa: Imeretians are said to be talkative and hospitable, Megrelians hot-tempered and proud. Batumi, with its casinos, summer nightlife, Turkish visitors and modern towers, sits apart from the rest, while Kutaisi keeps the feel of an old provincial capital.

Batumi is the region's largest city, with more than 150,000 people, and has grown quickly on tourism, casinos, property and its port. Kutaisi, with about 160,000, is the capital of Imereti and Georgia's third city, with universities and an airport that has made it a gateway for budget travellers. Zugdidi and Poti, each with around 40,000, are the other main towns; Mestia has about 2,000 residents.

The lowlands grow tea, citrus, maize and grapes. Poti and Batumi are important ports, Chiatura in Imereti mines manganese, and the Enguri hydroelectric dam supplies much of the country's electricity. The mountain valleys depend on livestock, tourism and seasonal work.

The rhythm is slower and more outdoor than in Tbilisi, with summer spent at the sea and markets full of cheeses, cornbread and fruit. Many families displaced from Abkhazia still live in former Soviet sanatoriums and settlements built for them, and emigration from rural villages is a constant concern.

Western Georgian cooking is spicier and more herb-scented than eastern, built on maize, cheese and walnuts. Ghomi, a stiff cornmeal porridge, and mchadi, cornbread, replace wheat bread in many homes, and elarji is cornmeal cooked with stretchy sulguni cheese, a Megrelian speciality. Megrelian dishes use plenty of adjika, the red pepper paste, as in Megrelian kharcho, a walnut-thickened stew of beef. Each province has its own khachapuri: Imeruli, a round cheese bread from Imereti; Megruli, with extra cheese on top; and Adjaruli, the boat-shaped Adjaran bread with an egg and butter.

Svaneti's specialities are kubdari, a bread filled with spiced meat, chvishtari, cornbread baked with cheese, and Svan salt, a spiced salt. Racha is known for lori, its cured pork, and Rachuli lobiani, bean-filled bread flavoured with ham.

Racha's Khvanchkara is a naturally semi-sweet red from the Alexandrouli and Mujuretuli grapes, while Imereti makes lighter white wines from Tsitska, Tsolikouri and Krakhuna. Guria and Adjara grow tea and citrus, and chacha is distilled throughout the region.

Kutaisi's monasteries are the heart of Imereti: Bagrati Cathedral on its hill above the Rioni, Gelati Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the cliff monastery of Motsameta. Nearby are Prometheus Cave, the dinosaur footprints of Sataplia, the Soviet spa town of Tskaltubo, Okatse Canyon's hanging walkway, the Katskhi Pillar with its church on top, and Chiatura's cable cars.

In Samegrelo, Martvili Canyon is explored by boat and on foot, and Martvili Monastery stands on a hill nearby; Zugdidi has the Dadiani Palace. Racha, up the Rioni valley, has the eleventh-century Nikortsminda Cathedral, Shaori lake and the resort of Shovi.

The tower village of Ushguli is listed as the Upper Svaneti UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mestia has its own Svan towers and a museum of icons and manuscripts, with ski slopes at Hatsvali and Tetnuldi. Ushguli lies below Shkhara, Georgia's highest mountain, with the Lamaria church above the villages; the four-day trek from Mestia to Ushguli is the region's best-known walk.

On the Black Sea coast, Batumi's Boulevard runs past the Alphabetic Tower and the moving Ali and Nino sculpture, and the Batumi Botanical Garden spreads over the Green Cape. Gonio fortress lies to the south, Mtirala National Park and the Makhuntseti waterfall inland, and the resorts of Kobuleti and Ureki, with its dark magnetic sand, further north, with Kolkheti National Park's wetlands around Poti.