For centuries, Tsinandali was the ancestral estate of the Chavchavadze family. In the 19th century, it became a true cultural hub regularly visited by Georgian and foreign diplomats and artists. In 1854, Shamil’s forces raided the Tsinandali estates. The palace was looted and burned. Twenty-four members and relatives of the Chavchavadze family were taken captive. Shamil demanded the release of his son, Jemal-ed-Din, and a ransom of one million maneti (old Georgian currency) in exchange for the prisoners. After negotiations, the ransom was reduced to about 40,000 maneti. To pay the ransom and free the family, Alexander Chavchavadze’s son, David, mortgaged the Tsinandali estate and later lost it entirely.

Did you know that….

1. In 1886, David Chavchavadze was forced to sell the Tsinandali estate, which then came under the ownership of the Department of Princely Estates. From this period, a major reconstruction of the Tsinandali estate began. The renovation works were led by the renowned Russian architect Alexander Ozerov. In 1887, the redesign of the park was commissioned to the Swedish botanist Arnold Regel. Thus, the Chavchavadze estate in Tsinandali was transformed into a summer residence for the Romanov family.

2. After the Sovietisation of Georgia, the Romanovs' summer residence was converted into a hotel adjacent to the winery; and starting from 1946, under the supervision of the Georgian poet Giorgi Leonidze, the Alexander Chavchavadze House-Museum was opened.