The Dadianis’ summer residence, the Gordi Palace, was another impressive architectural treasure. In 1841, following a design from the Russian architect Leonid Vasiliev, construction began on this two-storey, citadel-type structure near the town of Gordi in Imereti, just over the border from Samegrelo. The finished building was just over 20 meters wide and 40 meters long, with a first floor partitioned by columns and arches and a second floor consisting of a huge hall, lobby, salon, and library.
David Dadiani invited the renowned agronomist and landscape architect Joseph Babini, who was also responsible for the design of the botanic gardens at Zugdidi, to draw up a plan for the gardens around the Gordi Palace. Work on them was started by Babini and taken up later by the Italian gardener Gaetano Zamberletti. The 80-hectare grounds were enclosed within a stone wall with the three guarded gates. Other facilities in the complex included a bathhouse and an artificial lake.
During the Bolshevik Revolution, when Red Army units were stationed at the Gordi Palace, the palace’s arms, furniture, and kitchenware were stolen. Later, with encouragement from the local authorities, villagers looted the site, and everything of value that remained—doors, windows, ornamental wooden pillars—was taken. Today, little of it remains except a roofless skeleton.
Another architectural landmark was the Salkhino Palace—also known as the Kvevri Palace, for reasons that will soon become clear. The palace was constructed, on a site originally occupied by a modest royal residence in the village of Salkhino near the Martvili Church, during the reign of David Dadiani’s father Levan V Dadiani (r. 1804-1840), although the building did not assume its final shape until later. Construction materials were hauled to the site by peasants using 100 pairs of oxen and buffaloes yoked to sledges.
The great hall on the lower floor of the palace had an inbuilt wine vessel (kvevri) and a massive, richly decorated fireplace with a sculpture of Bacchus seated on the mantelpiece. The walls were covered with oak and chestnut panels. The Salkhino complex also included a huge wine cellar, 35 meters long and 10 meters wide. About the palace, the Georgian historian Iona Meunargia wrote:
The palace is situated near the home of the ojaleshi [variety of wine grape] … on the bank of the river Tsachkhura, which is famed for its fine trout. The plan of the palace, with its ground-floor wine vessel, oaken posts, and handsomely ornamented arch, fully justifies the name of the palace: Salkhino [Festive]. The idea of building a palace of this kind, on this spot, could only have come to a Prince such as Levan Dadiani, who spent all his life in feasting and singing.
Like the Gordi Palace, the Salkhino Palace was ravaged under the Soviet regime in the name of social justice, leaving only a stripped shell.
Other memorable Dadiani palaces were built in Kurze (a beautiful one-storey structure in the shape the letter “E” in Georgian script), Chakvinji (a fortress-like structure), Rukhi (also similar to a fortress), and Nogha (a unique circular design). The palaces at Kurzu and Nogha have not survived, although Chakvinji—where David Dadiani was born—still survives in reasonable condition. The Rukhi palace, which is located in the breakaway region of Abkhazia, has also survived into the present day, although the details of its condition today are not known.
The Kelasuri Wall also merits mention. Built by Levan II Dadiani in the 17th century to prevent raids by Abkhazian feudal lords, it consisted of a series of fortresses and towers stretching over 60 kilometers and terminating at the Rukhi fortress. Most of the Wall lies in areas of present-day Abkhazia that belonged to Samegrelo in the past.
Several Dadiani palaces and other buildings outside Georgia also attested to the family’s wealth and power. Most were located in Russia. As far back as Levan IV Dadiani in the 17th century, the family owned properties in Russia, and Niko Dadiani—whose abdication in 1867 formally ended the reign of the Dadianis—was famous throughout the Caucasus region for his vast real estate holdings, including estates in the Sevastopol and Rostov provinces of Russia. In the second half of the 19th century, the Dadianis also owned a house in Moscow on Lublianka square; it was destroyed during Soviet times and replaced with a government building that today serves as the Russian Ministry of Defense. Niko’s brother Andria Dadiani (1850-1910) owned an estate in Kiev, Ukraine—a three-storey building covered with pink stone tiles, and with floors tiled in a chessboard-like pattern that reflected Andria’s love for chess. In Moldova as well, the Dadianis left their mark by commissioning a large, three-storey building combining Italian Renaissance and Gothic styles to serve as a girls’ school; located in Kishiniov, this structure now houses the Art Museum of Moldova.
Many churches and monasteries still stand in Samegrelo as testaments to the Dadianis’ patronage of the Orthodox Church. Many of them predate the House of Dadiani itself by centuries, bearing witness to the long history of Christianity in Georgia.
The impressive Bedia Cathedral, located in the village of Agubedia, Abkhazia, was built in the 11th century by King Bagrat III, who united the western and eastern Georgian kingdoms, laying the foundation for the medieval Kingdom of Georgia. Several Dadiani rulers are listed as later patrons of this church. Architecturally, the domed cruciform structure stands out among its peers in several ways, such as the negligible Byzantine influence on its exterior and its unusually narrow interior. Contemporary murals of King Bagrat III and members of the Dadiani family adorn its southern wall.
Another structure of note is the 10th century Tsaishi Church, located about ten kilometers southwest of Zugdidi in the Kolkheti valley. This was a seat of the first Georgian Patriarchs. It was constructed near the place where Saint John of Patmos died, after banishment from Ephesus drove him to Turkey and Georgia. (John is famous in Orthodox Christianity as the father of eastern monasticism, and is known to all Christians as the author of the biblical Book of Revelation.) The church that currently stands on this site is the outcome of extensive rebuilding in 18th century; the only remnant from the original structure is a three-step pedestal.
The 14th century Cathedral of the Savior is located on a high hill in the outskirts of the town of Tsalenjikha. Just outside the walls of the Cathedral complex, the ruins of a old Dadiani palace can be found. Bilingual Greek and Georgian inscriptions on a Cathedral pillar reveal that Vamek Dadiani (r. 1384-1396) invited the Byzantine artist Cyrus Emanuel Eugenicos to decorate the church; the frescoes he created are the only known surviving examples of art from the era of the Byzantine Palaeologian dynasty that carry a date and artist’s signature. At the request of Bishop Eudemon Jaiani, Levan II Dadiani (r. 1611-1657), the most powerful Principal in the history of Samegrelo, commissioned an adjoining chapel with interior murals. Unfortunately, only fragments of these murals survive today.
Two churches in the village of Martvili—Martvili Chkondidi and the Church of the Virgin—date back to the seventh century, although both were extensively altered over the course of the many centuries since their initial construction. Modifications to the Church of the Virgin included the addition of a number of now-famous mural paintings in the 14th-17th centuries; the Getty Foundation recently funded a project aimed at conservation of the Church’s frescoes. The Church is also known for its displays of portraits of donors and patrons who supported it over the centuries. Several Dadiani Principals and other family members are buried in the village of Martvili, including the last of the line:Levan V Dadiani (r. 1804-1840) and his wife Martha; their son David Dadiani (r. 1840-1853) and his wife Ekaterine; and their sons Nikolas, David, and Andria.
