Sights in The Mountains
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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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Tsminda Sameba Church
The 14th-century Holy Trinity Church above Kazbegi at 2200m has become something of a symbol of Georgia - its beauty, piety and the fierce determination to build it on such a lofty, isolated perch are all emblematic of the country and its people. The walk up to the church and the panoramas this affords are a highlight of Georgia.
In 1988 the Soviet authorities constructed a cable-car line to the church, with one station in Kazbegi and the other right next to Tsminda Sameba. The people of Kazbegi quite rightly felt this defiled their sacred place and soon destroyed it. You can still see its base in the village, almost behind the Alexander Kazbegi Museum.
It takes about 1½…
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Alexander Kazbegi Museum
Alexander Kazbegi (1848-93) made the unusual decision to become a shepherd after studying in Tbilisi, St Petersburg and Moscow. Later he worked as a journalist and wrote the novels and plays that made him famous. At the end of his life he suffered from insanity. He died in Tbilisi, but his coffin was carried back to Kazbegi. His museum is a five-minute walk north from the main square.
You first come to a church, dated 1809-11, with a striking relief of two lions with a chain above its door. To its east and west are two structures that look like bell towers but are actually the tombs of Alexander's father and mother. The writer's own grave lies under a large stone…
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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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Museum of History & Ethnography
Despite security problems, the Svans are reluctant to see their amazingly rich treasury of religious items moved from the villages, but this museum’s collection is comprehensive, and labelled in English as well as Georgian, so it’s the best place to get an overall idea of the glories of Svanetian art.
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Korsha Museum
At Korsha, 2km past Barisakho, there's a small but interesting museum of Khevsur life, with armour, weapons, agricultural implements and the art of its curator, Shota Arabuli. From Korsha it's about a 7km walk up to Roshka, a small, muddy village off the main road, on the route towards the Roshka (Chaukhi) Pass.
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Keseloebi
Most of the villages in Tusheti are around 2000m above sea level and have picturesque settings, either sitting above near-sheer hillsides or nestling down by one of the rivers. There's a particularly splendid group of old towers, known as Keseloebi, on top of the crag at Zemo Omalo, the upper part of Omalo.
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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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Dartlo
Dartlo, about 12km northwest of Omalo in the Pirikiti Alazani valley, has a spectacular tower grouping, overlooked by the single tall lookout tower of Kvavlo on the hill 350m above.
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Museum
The museum, in Kazbegi’s house, to the left of the church, contains photos, documents and some clothes and original furniture.
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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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Diklo
Diklo, 4km northeast of Shenakho, has an old fortress perched on a spectacular rock promontory.
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