Discover western Georgia's Dadiani Palace treasures in new book
The bilingual catalogue comes with illustrations and words about items preserved at the estate-turned-museum. Photo via Art Palace.
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A newly released catalogue of historical treasures from the Dadiani Palace of western Georgian nobility brings stories of the exhibits from the 19th century estate to those with interest in cultural heritage.
Published in an initiative led by the Art Palace museum, the compilation introduces more than 200 inscriptions, over 100 religious items and hundreds of photographs about the riches found in the palace in the Samegrelo province's city of Zugdidi.
Authored by researcher Lili Beraia and edited by Art Palace director Giorgi Kalandia, the 260-page book comes in a bilingual edition in Georgian and English and features a paleographic album as well as an index of personalities and locations related to the subject.
The catalogue's publishing was supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia and the David Agmashenebeli University of Georgia, and is to be formally presented in Tbilisi and Zugdidi in the near future.
Items that represent the subject of the catalogue come from the Dadiani Palace, a historic residence of the final regent of the Principality of Samegrelo as the region’s autonomy was abolished by the Russian Imperial rule in 1857.
The complex includes a palace for Ekaterine Chavchavadze-Dadiani, the final acting regent of the principality, as well as a residence of her son Niko Dadiani, a monastery and an adjacent botanical garden.
Boasting the largest ballroom in nobility residences across Georgia, it has been described by the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation as a European-style palace with "unique architecture”.
During the 19th century the palace also hosted nobility from abroad including distinguished historical figures, among them pacifist and novelist Bertha von Suttner, the first Nobel Peace Prize-winning woman.
The estate, later transformed into a museum, entered a major renovation effort in 2015 and reopened recently.
Western Georgia’s Dadiani Palace complex, one of the major monuments of the country’s 19th century nobility, will soon open after renovation and with a brand-new museum venue.
The personal story of Bertha von Suttner, the first Nobel Peace Prize-winning woman, and her 19th century connection to Georgia will be the subject of a Tbilisi exhibition opening on Thursday.
A historic palace complex belonging to Georgia’s famous noble Dadiani family, which houses a piece of the Virgin Mary’s robe and Napoleon Bonaparte’s death mask, is being restored from its current state of disrepair.
Ancient newspaper clippings describing the history of one of Georgia’s most distinguished noble families has been transferred from Ireland to Georgia.
Major historical exhibits from the 19th century Dadiani Palace in Georgia's west can now be found online by visitors of Google Arts & Culture, an online repository of artwork and biographies of notable persons from history.
Tbilisi's Art Palace museum and the Dadiani Palace venue in Georgia's west have joined the likes of Musee du Louvre in Paris, State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and Thanjavur Maratha Palace in Tamil Nadu on the roster of palace museums on the Network of European Royal Residences.
Bronze monument "Kolkhish Nana" has been stolen from the yard of Georgia's historical Dadiani Palace, located in Samegrelo region's city of Zugdidi. Dadiani Palace museum employees reportedly noticed that the monument was missing earlier this morning.
A display opening at the historical Tsinandali Estate in Georgia's east on Saturday will invite visitors to explore the story of the life and activism of Bertha von Suttner, a leading pacifist figure in the late 19th and early 20th century Europe, and the years she spent in Georgia.
The “successful cooperation” between Georgia and the United States was discussed in a meeting between the Georgian Culture and Sport Minister Thea Tsulukiani and Robin Dunnigan, the US Ambassador to the country, the Ministry said on Thursday.