The Petra settlement is located in the village of Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti district, 25 km north of Batumi.

Informations about Petra, as a famous fortress-city and episcopal center of historical Lazika, has been preserved in the 6th-9th centuries. Byzantine historical sources (Novels of Justinian, works of Procopius of Caesarea, lists of episcopal sees of Constantinople), according to which, on the southern border of Lazika, by the sea, on the site of an insignificant settlement, by the order of Emperor Justinian (527-565), a city was built, which played a crucial role during the war for Lazika between Byzantium and Iran. The city built on a rocky place was called Petra, which means “rock, stone” in Greek. In the 6th-9th centuries, Petra is mentioned as the center of one of the dioceses of the Kingdom of Lazica, which was part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.