Dadiani Palace is an interesting site to visit once in Zugdidi, there is actually located the histroy and architecture musem.
The Dadiani Palaces History and Architecture Museum is considered to be one of the most eminent palaces in the Caucasus. It is a Neo-Gothic building.
I had heard so much about this place, but finally visited and took off my bucket list at the end of September 2023, during a few-day Svaneti trip together with my mom. We were traveling with Vazha, our good old friend and driver here in Georgia. Made a stop just for a brief time to make an aerial photography with a drone.
The first exhibition, of archaeological excavations of the ancient city of Nakalakevi was prepared by Megrelian prince David Dadiani and took place in 1840. Three palaces form the modern museum complex, parts of which are also Blachernae Virgin Church and Zugdidi Botanical Garden.
The Dadiani Palaces History and Architecture Museum houses some exhibits of natural cultural heritage of Georgia – Tagiloni treasure materials, Mother of God holy vesture, the icon of queen Bordokhan – mother of queen Tamar of Georgia, manuscripts from 13th – 14th centuries, miniatures, memorial relics of Dadiani dynasty, and objects connected to emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte – brought to the palace by the husband of David Dadiani's daughter, prince Prince Charles Louise Napoléon Achille Murat (1847-1895), grandson of Napoleon's sister, Caroline Bonaparte.
The palace was fully transformed into a museum on May 1, 1921, at the initiative of Georgian ethnographer and geologist Akaki Chanturia.
In early 1848 the prince of Samegrelo, David Dadiani, used to show his guests the archaeological and numismatic collection from Nokalakevi, an archaeological site in Samegrelo. Some of the exhibits were found by David Dadiani himself, and some were purchased by him from settlers in his domain. The most important archaeological dig by David Dadiani was the research of Nokalakevi – known as Archeopolis in Antiquity.
