Tsinandali Palace, House Museum of Alexander Chavchavadze – A center of intellectual life, the house served as a salon for exiled Decembrists and Mikhail Lermontov, together with members of his regiment, the Nizhegorodsky Dragoons, whose headquarters were nearby. The house is mentioned in the writings of Lermontov and Alexandre Dumas.
Chavchavadze’s poetry marks the beginning of Georgian romanticism. It is work fueled by the country’s disillusionment over its loss of independence. As such, patriotism and many of the virtues, both poetic and personal, embodied in the work of Rustaveli came to the fore.
The aristocratic Chavchavadzes were certainly among the most talented and powerful families not just in Kakheti but in all of Georgia. Alexanders father, Garsevan, who founded the famous winery on the property, was King Herekle’s ambassador to Russia. Alexander’s daughter, Nina, married the Russian poet and diplomat Alexander Griboyedov. A frequent guest here, he and Nina married in the chapel in the park. Griboyedov met his end at the hands of an enraged mob in Iran.
The museum itself will be most meaningful to Russian and Georgian speakers familiar with the work of Chavchavadze, since the collection is almost exclusively devoted to his memorabilia and that of his family. In addition the rooms show what the good life in Kakheti must have been like in the 19th century.
In the northeast corner of the park is the Tsinandali Winery built in the 19th century by Alexander Chavchavadzes father. The wonderful brick edifice with its lancet arches looks more like an Ottoman arsenal than a factory devoted to the grape. This paradox is precisely what Georgia is all about. The winery- is open the same hours as the museum, but you must join a tour to see the vast cellars housing a library of wines.
The oldest wines go back to 1814. An inner courtyard and garden feature a statue of a plump and jolly Bacchus, and the passages are lined with large kvevri’s (earthenware jars in which wine is matured) and examples of the uremi (special wooden wagons used exclusively for the transport of grapes and wine) – both of which are frequently found in the paintings of Pirosmani. A banquet hall for feasts and wine tastings is also here and should, without too much difficulty, be put at your disposal for a leisurely tasting.