Architecture sights in Georgia
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Mutso
From Shatili the track continues 3km northeast to the border of Chechnya. Before the border you'll encounter a 'No Entry' sign, but you can turn south up the Andaki valley to almost-empty Mutso , about 8km from Shatili. Mutso's roofless old village on a very steep rock pinnacle across the river is one of the most spectacular in Khevsureti, with large stone tombs in which you can see human skulls.
Ardoti is 6km further up the valley beyond Mutso. From Andaki (uninhabited), a similar distance beyond Ardoti, begins the very steep route over the 3431m Atsunta Pass into Tusheti.
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Rabati
A wander around Akhaltsikhe's rabati (old town), with its multicultural architecture, is well worthwhile. This district is on a hill on the north side of the Potskhovi, just west of the bridge. Rare examples of darbazebi (traditional Georgian houses) cluster around the castle, which was built in the 12th century and houses a mosque from 1752 and the ruins of a medrese (Islamic school). The rabati also has a synagogue, an Armenian church and a Catholic church.
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Barisakho
The road to Khevsureti turns northeast off the Georgian Military Highway shortly before the Zhinvali Reservoir and runs up the Pshavis Aragvi valley to the villages of Barisakho and Biso, before turning east (now a jeep track) and over the high Datvis-Jvari Pass (open from about June to October), and then northeast down the Argun valley to Shatili, the main village of inner Khevsureti. Barisakho, about 100km from Tbilisi, is the largest village of the region, with a population of about 200.
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Shatili
Some 8km past Gudani comes the Datvis-Jvari Pass (2876m), from which it's 18km northeast to Shatili. Shatili's old town, built between the 7th and 13th centuries, is an agglomeration of tall towers clinging together on a rocky outcrop to form a single fortress-like whole. The old town was abandoned between the 1960s and '80s, and the new village, of about 20 houses, is just around the hill. But several towers have recently been restored and one contains a museum.
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Mtkvari River Tunnel
On your way back down from the Uplistsulis Eklesia, don't miss the long tunnel running down to the Mtkvari River - an emergency escape route that could also have been used for carrying water up to the city. Its entrance is by a short flight of narrow metal steps, behind a reconstructed wall southeast of the Theatre.
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Mosque
Batumi’s last surviving mosque, built in the 1860s, is also worth visiting. It’s finely painted in pinks, greens and blues, with beautiful Koranic calligraphy on the walls. Friendly men often gather to socialise at the entrance.
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18th-century walls
Set among wooded hills dotted with cypresses, the town has wonderful views of the Alazani valley and the Caucasus beyond. The main section of the 18th-century walls runs along the hilltop on the northeast side of town.
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Shenakho
Shenakho, a few kilometres east of Omalo, is one of the prettiest villages, with its houses of stone, slate and rickety wooden balconies grouped around Tusheti's only functioning church.
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Rustavi
Thirty-two kilometres from Akhaltsikhe is the village of Rustavi, from where Georgia's national bard Rustaveli hails.
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Gudani
East of Biso, Gudani village, about 1km up from the road, is a striking group of tower houses on a rock outcrop.
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