Dadiani Palace, Zugdidi

The Dadiani Palace stands in the historic centre of Zugdidi and was the seat of the Dadiani family, hereditary princes of Mingrelia. The complex was built in the nineteenth century and includes several buildings, a palace church and an extensive botanical garden that still serves as the town's main park.

Its best-known exhibit is one of the small number of authentic death masks of Napoleon Bonaparte. It reached Georgia through marriage: Salome Dadiani married Achille Murat, grandson of Napoleon's marshal Joachim Murat, and part of the family collection came to Zugdidi with her. The palace rooms also hold Georgian chased metalwork, icons, manuscripts, furniture and the personal effects of the princely family.

What you will see:

• The main palace, with displays arranged close to the historic interiors
• The botanical garden, laid out in the nineteenth century with exotic trees
• The palace church within the grounds

Zugdidi is mostly treated as a town you pass through on the way to Svaneti, and many travellers skip it entirely. The palace is the thing that makes stopping worthwhile: it shows that lowland Mingrelia had its own princely history, quite separate from the mountain world of Svaneti an hour and a half to the north.