Mukharani (Georgia)

Mukhrani is one of those surprising places in Kartli where all of a sudden, along a dusty road, you find yourself confronted with the traces of a noble past and gain an instant sense of visiting a site of great historical significance. Mukhrani is a small town located on a plain a few kilometres from the main road between Tbilisi and Batoumi, at the heart of the arid plateau of central Kartli and not far from Mtskheta.

In this often yellowed looking landscape, one thing immediately strikes you the moment you arrive in the town: the imposing castle, which, with its mixed brick and stone walls and rounded crenels, is very oriental in appearance and typical of 16th and 17th century Georgia. With the silhouette of its castle – which was once the bastion of one of Georgia's most powerful noble families – and the two churches dating from the same period, one of which is partially in ruins, Mukhrani has a certain historical cachet about it.

Time seems to have come to a standstill in and around these little historical treasures to some degree. If you continue on to "Château Mukhrani", two kilometres from the centre of the town, you'll find yourself stepping into a different century. This very Russian colonial-style aristocratic palace, which dates from 1873 and was designed and built by French architects, is home to one of country's most prestigious wine estates, which is open to visitors for tours and tastings.