Orbeliani Palace

The Orbeliani Palace (ორბელიანის სასახლე) or the Atoneli Residence (ათონელის რეზიდენცია) is the official residence of the president of Georgia. It is located on Atoneli street in Central Tbilisi. It was once home to Elizabeth Orbeliani, a Georgian poet and the country's first woman academic.

Origins and usage throughout the times
The original building, which no longer survives, dates back to the 18th century and was a gift of King Teimuraz II of Kakheti to his son-in-law Dimitry, brother of Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani. That earlier building was destroyed and the current one was built in its place at the end of the 19th century.

Orbeliani Palace previously served as home to Elizabeth Orbeliani, a Georgian poet and the country's first woman lecturer. To this day, there is a room in the palace dedicated to her memory and it is used to receive foreign dignitaries.

The last inhabitant of the palace was Grigol Orbeliani. At one point, the building served as the U.S. Embassy in Georgia. In 2013, about 25 million Georgian lari was spent on the renovation of the palace.

Presidential residence
Georgian politician and former French diplomat Salome Zourabichvili announced during her 2018 presidential campaign that she would not work from the Avlabari Presidential Palace if elected. That palace, which was opened in July 2009, was built during the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili, with whom Zourabichvili had a fallout. Zourabichvili stated that she preferred Orbeliani Palace because it was more understated and that members of the House of Orbeliani and Baratashvili, who once resided there, were her historical ancestors.

After her election, she met with the outgoing President Giorgi Margvelashvili in the Avlabari Palace before moving into the Orbeliani Palace on 18 December 2018.

Interior

 * Amra Hall
 * Galaktion Hall
 * Golden Fleece Hall
 * Prometheus Hall
 * Rustaveli Hall
 * Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani Presidential Cabinet