The Mirrored Interiors of the Tarkhan-Mouravi Estate - Late 18th - mid 19th centuries

The article is dedicated to the palace of Marshal Tarkhan-Mouravi or “Marshliant Sasakhle” in the village of Garikula, which belonged to the direct descendants of the last Georgian kings Heraclius II and George XII. The building was erected in the late 18th – early 19th centuries and was decorated with mirrored mihrabs, muqarnas and mosaics, as well as oriental paintings that were performed by Persian artists in the manner of perso-chinese traditions. The decoration of this building was completed around the 1830s – 1840s. History has not preserved names of the artist since, in the soviet times, one of the members of the genus Tarkhan-Mouravi Catherine had to burn the entire family archive to protect the life of her descendants. She also applied to Apollon Kutateladze, who was a rector of Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, with a request to take a right to manage the nationalized estate, which was mercilessly spoiled during the soviet regime, and even the mirror decoration was cut with axes. Indeed, from 1960 to 1991, the building formally became the location for the summer practice for arts students of the Tbilisi Academy of Arts. They came with their professors, worked and lived in the estate. After independence of Georgia, the building was returned to its rightful owners, restored to their rights. Since Princess Catherine had three children, seven grandchildren (five of them are now alive), several great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, the total number of descendants claiming this inheritance reached 50 people.