Art Palace, Dadiani Palace museums join Network of European Royal Residences' venue list
Art Palace and Dadiani Palace museums are two of the three venues now represented on the roster from Georgia. Photos via French embassy in Georgia/Georgian Tours.
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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.
The two Georgian venues were added to the list - curated by the Network and celebrated on Palace Day in July of every year - aimed at highlighting "historic houses and cultural institutions". The Network itself brings together its members in experience-sharing efforts to safeguard and develop the sites in their management.
Art Palace and Dadiani Palace join the House Museum of Alexander Chavchavadze, a chateau in the town of Tsinandali in Georgia's east, as locations from the country represented on the roster. The three sites make Georgia the only state represented on the international list from the South Caucasus.
In his social media post announcing the news, Art Palace director Giorgi Kalandia said a number of professionals, institutions and state officials had been involved in submitting the venues for inclusion. Kalandia mentioned Art Palace employee Nutsi Katchakhidze, Alexandre Crevaux-Asatiani of the Administration of the President of Georgia and the culture ministry as contributors to the effort.
Art Palace houses exhibits ranging from paintings and engravings to costumes from cinema and stage productions. Photo via Art Palace.
The Art Palace venue was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award in 2019 and was the first Georgian museum to be included in Google Arts and Culture, an online platform showcasing venues, collections and biographies from around the world.
Located at 6, Ia Kargareteli Street in Tbilisi, the museum building is a stand-out spot in Tbilisi due to its remarkable architecture and styling.
It was commissioned by German Prince Konstantin von Oldenburg as a present to Georgian woman Agraphina Japaridze, his romantic partner who left her husband and the western Georgian city of Kutaisi to move to capital Tbilisi in the 1880s.
Its design coming from architect Paul Stern, author of other recognised buildings of the 19th century Tbilisi, the building has been called a "perfect example of Gothic and Islamic architecture" in the official museum history.
Decades after its construction, art historian David Arsenishvili moved the Museum of Theatre into the venue in 1927, which gave it the status of the first museum of this kind in the South Caucasus and a collection of over 300,000 exhibits on Georgian theatre, cinema, circus, folklore, opera, and ballet.
Dadiani Palace is located in Georgia's west and is known for its collections as well as for its historical background as a hosting venue for the visiting nobility from abroad during the 19th century. Photo: Giorgi Shermazanashvili.
The Dadiani Palace is located in the city of Zugdidi in western Georgia's Samegrelo province, and served as the residence of the final regent of the Principality of Samegrelo before the region’s autonomy was abolished by the Russian Imperial rule in 1857.
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. The palace is also featured on Google Arts & Culture.
Details about the Network of European Royal Residences and venues in its roster can be found on the official website of the organisation.