Batumi Central Park – History of Lake Nuri

Central Park is a special place in Batumi, which has a lot of visitors at any time of the day and has an interesting history. When Georgia was under Russian influence and the whole area was covered with swamps, the governor of Batumi – Smekalovski in 1881 decided to create a park in this area and improve the space around the lake. This was entrusted to a Prussian gardener-Resller.
By order of the governor, he had to complete the arrangement of the garden within 10 years and clean the lake from debris and wild plants. According to the agreement, Resler had to plant shrubs, conifers and ornamental trees. In 1888 the arrangement of the garden was completed and the Russian emperor came to see the final picture, in whose honor this place was named “Alexandrov Garden”. In 1933 the park was renamed as the “Children’s Park”, and later it was renamed as a “Pioneer Park”. However, the history of its development does not end there. The city administration decided to build Greek-style colonnades at the entrance to the park. The monument of the first Adjarian woman pilot – Fadiako Gogitidze was erected in the middle of the colonnades.

A zoo was later set up. Since 1936, the park has been actively involved in various educational programs. The summer theater was opened, and in a few years the “Young Sailors Club”, the chess club and the “Firefly” were introduced. Here children could have a good time and receive knowledge. In 1947, swings and attractions were installed in the park. In 1975 the dolphinarium was opened, in 2007-2008 it was reconstructed and became a business card of Batumi. In the center of the park there is Lake Nuri of lagoon origin, which has an oval shape and is fed by groundwater.

There is a legend according to which the lake has a rather tragic past. Locals recall that a child drowned in the “Nuri-Gel” lake, which was formerly called “Gel-Bashi” lake, the child’s name was “Nuri”. The mother used to go to the lake every day and shout “Nuri, Geli”. After that the name of the lake was changed to “Nuri-Geli” lake. Today, all Batumi residents know about this legend.
The history of the park is more than 130 years. During this time the infrastructure changed, new plants were planted around the lake, the shoreline of the lake was strengthened. The park was also renamed as the “May 6 Park” or “Batumi Central Park”, but its meaning remained unchanged. It is a place where people of all ages and categories can have interesting and fun time.