Giorgi Surmanidze

Gonio-Apsaros Fortress sits a short drive south of Batumi, and I have spent enough time walking its walls to know exactly which stretch photographs best in the afternoon light. On camera I explain the fortress layer by layer, Roman, then Ottoman, then Georgian again, rather than treating it as one single ruin. Back in the city I also show Europe Square, where a statue of Medea holding the Golden Fleece stands among newer European-style buildings. I keep the history precise and try to separate fact from the legends that get attached to a site like this.