Going on a trip to Georgia, in a kaleidoscope of bright colors, fun feasts and a sea of sun, do not forget to pay a bit of attention to the history of this amazing and hospitable country. Look into its far corners, provinces - and you will find there a lot of interesting things. This is exactly the town of Zugdili, the formerly once winter residence of the oldest noble family of Dadiani.
About city
Located in the western part of the country, the city of Zugdidi, the Dadiani Palace can rightfully be considered its calling card, by which it is recognized around the world. The village is located 30 km from the Black Sea coast and 318 km from the capital - Tbilisi. According to the latest data, the population is 42.7 thousand people. The city has long been the seat of local princes, rulers of the so-called Megrelia - a historical region inhabited by megrels (the people of the Colchis group). As a separate nationality, they were listed until the 30s of the last century, now they are reckoned among Georgians.
City Economy
Zugdidi can be called promising. In addition to exclusively tourist sites, such as the Dadiani Palace, the ruins of the Ruh fortress in the vicinity, a botanical garden, it has a pulp and paper mill, a cannery, an oil mill, a pulp mill, a tea and machine-building plants, as well as two factories - a furniture and silk weaving. Many of them do not work at full strength. The population is mainly engaged in agriculture and trade. There are many restaurants in the city center, which is also to a certain extent designed to attract tourist flow.
Dadiani Palace: History
In his notes on a trip to Georgia, the Italian missionary A. Lamberti wrote that the local prince has a huge number of palaces - more than 50, but the one located in Zugdidi is perhaps the most beautiful. He noted that the building is made of good stone, and the interior is made in the spirit of Persia. And this is not at all surprising, because E.D. Rice was engaged in the project, who took the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka as a basis. The Dadiani Palace was erected in honor of the ruler of Megrelia and the wife of the sovereign prince Catherine Dadiani (pictured in the article). The princess, according to contemporaries, was very beautiful and smart. After the peasant revolt in 1857, she left her home and left for St. Petersburg, and then to Paris. At the end of her life, the princess returned to her homeland - to Megrelia, but she already lived as a private person.
Museum
In 1849, by the will of the owner of Megrelia David Dadiani, a museum was founded in the palace. The basis of his collection were items from the treasury of the prince and other Georgian antiquities. At the moment, the most beautiful palace of Dadiani
(Georgia, Zugdidi) has more than 41 thousand exhibits. These include rare examples of national Georgian culture. For example, inventory of the Tagilon warehouse, an icon of the 12th century mother of the Georgian
queen Tamara, military weapons dating from the Middle Ages, items that came into the country after the fall of Constantinople, one of the three
posthumous masks of Napoleon and much more.
Botanical Garden
An interesting museum and its unique expositions are by no means the only treasure that the Dadiani Palace boasts. Around the magnificent building is a spacious and beautiful botanical garden. This is one of the best places to study tropical plants. The green area is 26.4 hectares. Princess Catherine can rightfully be considered the founder of the garden, it was from her supply that the best gardeners arrived from Europe.
In the 1990s, the descendants of the prince, who arrived in Zugdidi for permanent residence, attempted to return the clan’s nest through the European Court. However, representatives of the Georgian Dadiani Palace Protection Fund indicated that in 1919 the heirs officially signed a waiver of the rights to the palace construction. When visiting the complex in 2007, the President of Georgia announced that restoration and restoration work would begin in the near future, the purpose of which was to restore the proper appearance of the building and make it a pride not only of Zugdidi but of the whole country.
Dadiani Palace: how to get there?
The architectural monument is located in the heart of the park of the city of Zugdidi. The easiest way for tourists to get to the village from the capital. There are several ways to get from Tbilisi. Firstly, by car: it’s enough to “drive” the route into the navigator or use the map, and the distance of 300 kilometers can be covered in half a day. Secondly, a night or day train that leaves from the train station. Departure from Kutaisi, Batumi or Mestia is also possible. From the capital, in addition, there is a minibus.
The Dadiani Palace is located directly near the bus stop and railway station, so it will be easy to get to it within the city even on foot. Do not forget about the opening hours of the museum. You can visit it any day, except Monday (day off), from nine in the morning until six in the evening. The cost of admission in local currency is 2 GEL (with a guide - 5), which is less than 100 rubles when transferring.
Ruh fortress
If your trip to Georgia includes a trip to the city of Zugdidi, then it will be completely unforgivable to leave aside one of the oldest historical monuments not only in the region, but throughout the country - the Ruh Fortress. Ancient ruins are located 7 km from the village, in the small village of Ruhi. The fortress was erected in the 17th century and, according to some historians, is part of the Kelasur wall. In the history of Georgia, the place is famous for the battle that took place here in 1779 between the local people and the Turks, in which Imereti king Solomon I took part.