Museum · Zugdidi, Zugdidi Municipality, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
Dadiani Palaces Historical and Architectural Museum
დადიანების სასახლეთა ისტორიულ-არქიტექტურული მუზეუმი · Dadiani Palace · Dadiani Palaces Museum
The former residence of the Dadiani rulers of Samegrelo in central Zugdidi: two palaces opened as a museum in 1921, with collections of Christian art, archaeology and manuscripts and a set of Napoleon memorabilia.
Where it is
42.5122, 41.8739
Why go
The complex has two buildings. Dedopliseuli, the queen's palace, owes its present look to a restoration of the 1860s led by an English architect, for which thousands of hand-made parts were produced for the balconies and roofs; beside it stands Nikoseuli, built in the 1880s by Niko Dadiani. The museum was founded after the family's property was nationalised and keeps nine collections, from archaeology and manuscripts to fine and applied art. The Napoleon connection comes through Salome Dadiani's marriage to Achille Murat, and one of the emperor's death masks is in the collection, as is the robe venerated as the Virgin's.
Near Dadiani Palaces Historical and Architectural Museum
Church
Church of the Blachernae Mother of God
The cathedral church at the entrance to the Dadiani palace grounds in Zugdidi, dedicated to the Blachernae icon of the Mother of God and the focus of the city's Vlakernoba feast every July.
0 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Church
Tsalenjikha Cathedral
A cross-domed stone cathedral in the Samegrelo town of Tsalenjikha, painted inside by Manuel Eugenicos, a master from Constantinople invited by the ruler Vamek I Dadiani, who reigned 1384–1396.
20 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Khobi Monastery
Also known as Nojikhevi Monastery, this 13th–14th-century complex just north of the town of Khobi kept a robe venerated as the Virgin Mary's in a silver reliquary until Soviet rule, after which its relics went to the museum in Zugdidi.
20 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Nokalakevi
The ruined fortified town of Tsikhegoji, called Archaeopolis by Byzantine writers, in a loop of the Tekhuri river in Samegrelo; now a museum-reserve with walls, Roman-style baths and a 6th-century church.
31 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ