Zugdidi is the heart of the picturesque historical region of Mingrelia (Samegrelo, Mingrelia), the former residence of the Mingrelian rulers of the Dadiani princes. The city is located 332 kilometers from Tbilisi, near the administrative border with Abkhazia, and is one of the most important cities of the western part of the country. It has many amazing sights, one of which is the posthumous mask of Emperor Napoleon I Bonaparte.
Zugdidi remained the residence of the rulers of Mingrelia of the Dadiani princes for many centuries. The palace was founded in 1840 for Princess Ekaterina Dadiani, née Chavchavadze, the sister of the infamous black rose of Tiflis, Nino Griboedova, widow of Alexander Griboedov. It acquired its final form, which has survived to this day, in the 1870s-80s.
Catherine Dadiani's son Niko became the last Mingrelian ruler. After his abdication, Catherine and her daughter Salomé left for Paris. Salomé married Prince Achille Murat, the grandson of Marshal Murat and sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was he who subsequently brought to Megrelia several unique relics related to his legendary ancestor. Among them was one of the three posthumous masks of Napoleon.
As early as in 1849 a museum was founded on the territory of the palace, the exposition of which included items from the collection of the ruler of Mingrelia and Georgian valuables. Napoleon's mask and other valuables that Prince Murat brought from France are kept in this museum today. In total there are about 41 thousand exhibits. The picturesque Zugdidi Botanical Garden, laid out by Ekaterina Chavchavadze with the help of European gardeners, is spread around the palace.
In the mid-1990s, the heirs of Prince Murat and Princess Dadiani - Prince Alain Murat and his wife Princess Veronica - came to Georgia for permanent residence. First, they founded the Murats in Georgia Foundation, and then, through the European Court of Justice, attempted to return the property of the Dadiani princes to their ownership.
The residence has undergone extensive restoration and today it is one of the most beautiful sights in Georgia.
