Salkhino

Salkhino – meaning ‘for the feast’ – was the summer residence of the noble Dadiani family, Samegrelo’s ruling feudal landowners whose seat was in Zugdidi. It’s situated 15 km (9 m) north-west of Martvili, on the Tekhuri River. The Summer Palace, or ‘Qvevri’ Palace as the Dadianis liked to call it, was constructed on the site of a more modest royal residence by Levan Dadiani, who ruled from 1804 to 1840. Construction materials were hauled to the site by peasants with 100 pairs of oxen and buffalo yoked to sledges. The great hall on the lower floor had sunken qvevri and a monumental fireplace with a sculpture of Bacchus seated on the mantelpiece. The walls were panelled with oak and chestnut. The Salkhino complex included a large wine cellar, 35 metres long and 10 metres wide (115 x 33 feet). As the historian Iona Meunargia put it: “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 feasting and singing.” The palace was gutted in Soviet times and is not currently open to the public but you can visit the lovely small church beside it and the park with vineyards planted in the local limestone-rich soils. There is a working monastery too.