Tsinandali
The House-Museum of Alexander Chavchavadze, the beautiful Tsinandali Garden, and the unique 19th-century wine cellar are located in the village of Tsinandali, Telavi Municipality, Kakheti region.
The surviving building of the Chavchavadze Palace in Tsinandali was constructed in 1886 and now houses the Alexander Chavchavadze House-Museum. The museum preserves personal belongings of the Chavchavadze family, various 19th-century publications, 18th-century manuscripts, photographs by Dimitri Ermakov, paintings and lithographs, Georgian, Russian, and French furniture from the 18th–19th centuries, and a variety of household items, including Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Georgian, and Russian tableware, as well as musical instruments.
The Tsinandali decorative garden is the first European-style recreational park in Georgia, covering 18 hectares. Alexander Chavchavadze invited European landscape architects to design it. With its exotic plant species and unique planning, the garden is unparalleled. Visitors will encounter exotic plants from China, America, Japan, the Mediterranean, and other regions. The garden also features the “Alley of Love.” According to legend, if a couple manages to walk through the alley with their eyes closed, their love will be blessed with happiness.
The Tsinandali Wine Cellar, located within the garden and built in 1835, is one of the first cellars in Georgia where wine was first bottled. Alexander Chavchavadze was the first person in Georgian history to bottle Georgian wine made in European style at Tsinandali, laying the foundation for European-style winemaking in Georgia. The cellar preserves about 16,500 bottles of wine from various countries.