11, Kikodze St

The history of the building located at  11, Kikodze St. picturesquely reflects the history of the Bolshevik terror in Georgia in the 1930s. The original owners of the building were the Mailov brothers. Ilya Mailov, a merchant of the first guild, was a philanthropist , his brother Daniel, a member of the trade-industrial committee for accounting and loans. Their father, Ghazar Mailov, a well-known businessman in the Caucasus, was involved in the oil business. He founded the company "Lazar Mailov and Sons". For the construction of the building, the brothers invited the architect A. Ter-Mikelov, who built a pompous villa for the Mailovs in 1914. The house built by a wealthy Armenian merchant enjoyed the approval of the elite of the Communist Party. Initially, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia Mamia Orakhelashvili lived in this house, but his life ended tragically in 1937 when he, his wife Mariam, daughter Ketevani and son-in-law - the famous Georgian conductor Evgeni Mikeladze were arrested and shot after terrible torture. Only Ketevan Orakhelashvili returned from exile. In the same apartment they moved a new party  leader Filipe Makharadze. Unfortunately, today this house is better known by his name. The memorial plaques attached to the facade of the building speak volumes about the priceless history of the victims and the executioners.