Dadiani Palace

The Dadiani were the ruling princes of Mingrelia, and their palace in Zugdidi, built in the nineteenth century in a Gothic revival manner, now holds a museum whose collection is unexpectedly wide. Its best-known object is one of the small number of death masks cast from Napoleon, which reached Georgia through the marriage of Salome Dadiani to Achille Murat, a grandson of Napoleon's marshal and brother-in-law, whose family possessions came with her. Alongside it are icons, manuscripts, jewellery, Mingrelian regalia and a large botanical garden laid out around the palace with trees brought from across the world.

Background

First built in the 17th century, the palace was reworked in the 19th, and Edwin Race, an English architect born in 1819, is credited with its present Neo Gothic form. The main building is known as the Queen's Palace, having been the property of the Queen Regent of Mingrelia. Three palaces make up the museum complex, along with the Blachernae Virgin Church. Prince David Dadiani staged the first exhibition in 1840, with finds from ancient Nakalakevi, and the palace became a full museum on May 1, 1921, prompted by the ethnographer Akaki Chanturia. The 41,000 items include the Tagiloni treasure, manuscripts of the 13th and 14th centuries and an icon of Bordokhan, the mother of Queen Tamar.

Source: Wikipedia, "Dadiani Palace"

What to look for

• A Napoleon death mask - one of a small number of casts.
• Dadiani family collections - icons, manuscripts and regalia.
• The Gothic revival palace - the nineteenth-century building itself.
• The botanical garden - exotic trees planted around the grounds.

When to go

April to October; the garden is best in spring. Two hours. Closed on Mondays. Photography inside is charged separately.

Practical notes

Displays are dated and labelling is thin outside Georgian. The Napoleon connection is thoroughly worked and dominates the visit. The palace interiors have been much altered. Zugdidi itself has little else for visitors.

Nearby

Zugdidi is around it; Enguri dam lies north.