Here he could imagine a real city arising from these pestilential swamps. He’s a daydreamer of a rare practical kind. When he closes his eyes he no longer beholds a riverbank strewn with broken planks but sees three new bridges. On the marsh, he pictures twelve streets named after the Apostles. He takes his inspiration from Paris and other European citadels he has visited. He has abandoned the radicalism of his youth and sees economic growth as the essential element for national survival. He is enchanted by the idea of building a new port on this territory, serviced by a grand railway to the interior. First the port and from it the revenues to create the miniature city with all the scenery, the actors and the props he requires. He gathers the agents of change about him. ‘It is interesting to notice that the political ideals of the country are borrowed from Western Europe. Excepting in Japan, perhaps, there is no such instance of a people passing directly from feudalism to liberalism… ’ writes John Oliver Wardrop in 1888. ‘Parisian fashions, German rationalism, English sport and other products of our civilization are beginning to have an influence. The Rothschilds have not been slow to see that Trancaucasian wines, ores and oils are worth attention’.

Niko has also been paying attention to this enticing and troubling mix of the brave new age. He is 51 years old when he becomes Mayor and sets about transforming the town from a charming morass into a substantial seaport. He sees this is a city of the future, raises taxes on ships entering the docks to subsidise the development. He bans the building of wooden houses. He declares that houses in the city centre have to be built of stone and at least two storey’s high. He brings a German architect, Edmund Frick, to help him realise his vision. In 1896, Niko takes the oldest structure, the foundations of the old Turkish fortress, removes the wooden construction added by the Russians and builds a Georgian style balcony around it, rising above the ancient stones. As a final flourish he puts a mechanical clock on the top floor, which he had brought from Paris. He makes this tower his home for a time, where he makes his careful plans. He is patient but time is not on his side.

Clock made by Horologer Paul Garnier, Rue Taitbout, Paris, 1870.