The Mukhranbatoni House in Tbilisi, completed in 1899, and the legend of Pushkin's parquet
The Tbilisi house of the Mukhranbatoni on Loris-Melikov Street, renamed Gudiashvili Street, is now partly residential. It was built to the commission of Prince Ivan Bagration-Mukhransky in the style of the French Renaissance, to a design by Kornely Tatishchev, a celebrated architect of his day. When I visited the house as a guest, I was struck by the beauty of the interior, which, though it does not date from the time of construction, is a rich collection of works of art and exquisite details of various years. My interlocutrix that day, a well-known society lady of Tbilisi, said to me: Sandro, do note this parquet, Pushkin himself once danced upon it! And I was indeed deeply impressed!
The building itself is in excellent condition, the Baroque façade has recently been restored, and even in Soviet years it was treated with care. The patron might have been proud of such a contribution to the city's treasury of landmarks. It is only a pity that Ivan Mukhranbatoni did not live to see the completion of the building in 1899, and, unfortunately, Pushkin died 62 years before that. And I, alas and alack, no longer believe grandmothers from high society.
