Salkhino, the place of feasts
Salkhino is a village in Martvili municipality, Samegrelo. Its name comes from "lkhini", a feast: it means "a place for feasting".
The Dadiani summer palace
In the first half of the 19th century Levan Dadiani replaced a wooden house here with a two-storey stone palace. The princes of Mingrelia spent their summers here, and the palace was famous for its feasts.
Photo: Lorenz King, JLU, university Giessen.deThe Murats and France
The palace passed to Levan’s granddaughter, Salome Dadiani-Murat, who married Achille Murat, a nephew of Napoleon. The last great celebration at the palace was the wedding of their son, Lucien Murat.
Photo: Alexey KomarovThe home of Ojaleshi
Davit Dadiani planted Ojaleshi vineyards in Salkhino, and by 1912 the Murats had expanded them to 16 hectares. Today the Salkhino monastery keeps the tradition alive.
Photo: Alexey KomarovSalkhino today
The palace is a residence of the Patriarch of Georgia. The park, the 18th-century Church of the Virgin and the historic wine cellar are open to visitors. Beside the palace flows the Tsachkhura, said to be the coldest river in Samegrelo.
Photo: Paata Vardanashvili from Tbilisi, Georgia