Why go
Likani Palace is the 1892-95 neo-Gothic summer residence built for Grand Duke George Mikhailovich, cousin of Tsar Nicholas II. Constructed by German architect Jacob Otto with stone from local quarries, it served as the Romanov family's private retreat during their annual visits to take Borjomi's famed mineral waters. After 1921, the palace became a sanatorium for Soviet officials; today it houses a museum within its original interiors. The building matters because it preserves authentic late Imperial Russian craftsmanship—carved oak ceilings, stained glass, and period furnishings—within a landscape of rare Caucasian fir and sequoia that the Grand Duke personally designed. It offers an unguarded glimpse into aristocratic leisure, medical tourism's origins, and Georgia's layered imperial history.