Khevsureti

Khevsureti is reached from the Georgian Military Highway by turning east at Aranisi, south of the Zhinvali Dam, along a road that follows the Pshavis Aragvi River valley as it climbs north-east towards the Chechen border. The remote, unspoiled highlands of Khevsureti are great for hiking in the warmer months in the Khevsureti National Park and around the highland valleys near Shatili, the main village. Here a complex of 50 defensive towers from the 6th to the 12th centuries are woven into a fortress-like structure that reveals why the Khevsurs were known as great warriors and defenders of the Georgian borders. The men wore chain mail here as recently as the 1930s. Khevsureti retains many pagan artistic traditions: music and crafts are highly valued, as the Khevsur’s hand-embroidered traditional clothing demonstrates.