Shatili Khevsureti

Mountain world Khevsureti
In the central Caucasus in the high valleys lies the mountain world khevsureti, one of the most beautiful mountain regions of Georgia.  Khevsurian are East Caucasian Georgian mountain tribes, which, by virtue of their centuries-old seclusion, preserve some of the dialect characteristics and an original customary traditions. Even today Khevsurian wear their picturesque costume of dark hand-woven woolen with cross embroidery, especially the symbols of the cross, the moon and the lightning. Of great interest is the old judicial system of these peoples. Homicide, theft, and marital infidelity were the most punishable crimes in these mountain peoples; they were, in most cases, the cause of long-lasting blood-raids.
 Khevsureti is distinguished by its unique architecture and landscape. This Caucasus mountain landscape offers unique hikers' walks, through the forests and picturesque gorge along the Pshavi-Aragvi, through the subalpine meadows and mountain peaks to the summit of the Chaukhi Massif, below the blue-green mountain lakes. The hike from the mountain village of Juta to Roshka via Chaukhi Pass (ca.3.150 m) takes 8-10 hours depending on weather.

Sights of Khevsureti: the medieval villages: fortress village Shatili, former fortified tower village Mutso and Ardoti, mountain village of Juta, Barisakho, burial place Anatori.

 

 

Barisakho
The village of Barisakho is the administrative center South-Khevsureti. It is an ideal starting point for day hikes and horseback rides on the narrow mountain trails through the fascinating high mountain landscapes. It is an ethnographic museum in the village of Barisakho.
Shatili
The fortress village of Shatili, with its fortress-like, towered farmsteads, built into the mountain slope forms a castle as a whole. In the fortress there are strong and proud 68 defensive towers, which represent astonishing medieval architecture of the Central Caucasus. The oldest watchtowers date from the 6th century. The present-day fortress village Shatili was built in the middle Ages (from the 17th century). Shatili had a strategically important position, it controlled the weights that led from Chechnya, Ingushetia and Tusheti to internal Georgia.
Schatili is also the starting point for numerous excursions and mountain hikes.
 
Mutso
Mutso, the village of ruins about 11 km walk away from Shatili is a former fortified tower village. It lies on a towering rock (about 1 600 m) in the picturesque landscape. The settlement consists of 30 fortified residential units. A steep mountain trail leads to the abandoned towers, which formed as a single massive fortress and are today unique monuments of Khevsureti.
Anatori
The village of Anatori - an archaeological and architectural monument is located in the north east of Shatili about 2.3 km, at the confluence of the rivers Arghuni and Mutsostsqali, on a rocky mountain. Since the 18th century the place has been a burial ground. Here the inhabitants of the whole village, who died from a plague epidemic, were buried.
According to lore, the cross Anatori has punished the inhabitants of the village. Anatori's cross was a common worship of Shatili community, which is located on the northern slope of the Caucasus Tusheti-Khevsureti. According to the legend, a villagers shot an arrow on the cross, the whole community was punished by the Anatori Cross and died of the plague.