Clustered towers
One fortress.
Jaba1977 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yasuhiro Kojima — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jaba1977 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jaba1977 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vyacheslav Argenberg — CC BY 4.0
Shatili is a historic highland village in northern Georgia, on the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus, in the historical province of Upper Khevsureti, now part of Mtskheta-Mtianeti, about 42 km east of Kazbegi and 108 km northeast of Tbilisi in a straight line. The village lies in the deep Argun gorge at about 1,400 metres and is a unique complex of medieval-to-early-modern fortresses and fortified stone dwellings that served as both homes and a fortress. It is made up of terraced flat-roofed buildings and some sixty towers clustered together into a single chain of fortifications. The dark grey stone houses and towers pile up on the valley side like one stepped castle, overlooking the Argun river rushing between towering green mountains. In autumn the valley woods turn yellow and orange around the cliffs. Visitors drive in over the Datvisjvari mountain pass on a dirt road usually open only from late spring to autumn. They wander the narrow passages between the towers, stay in guesthouses and visit nearby Mutso.
One fortress.
A rushing river.
Coloured woods.
Shatili, Dusheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Georgia
By four-wheel drive over the Datvisjvari pass.
Mutso.