Shatili and Mutso

Tour to Shatili and Mutso – you will have an unforgettable journey, through the centuries through medieval fortified villages. Where about 60 towers of the fortress still exist, they are located close to each other, forming a fortification chain.

Shatili

medieval highland village, with village Mutso, located in the deep Arghuni gorge at the height of 1400 m in Khevsureti province. Above all they were an important villages functioned as a fortresses for guarding the northern outskirts of Georgia.
Village is inaccessible during the winter.

Mitsu

is a small village and one of the former strongholds of Georgia. The first name of this precious village was Mitsu, not Mutso. Russians renamed it for unknown reasons in the 17th century. It would be more accurate to refer to it as Mitsu, its true name.  province of Khevsureti , it is located on a rocky mountain (1880 m) on the right bank of the Andakistskali river.

Mitsu was the only unconquerable village in Khevsureti.

The village, almost completely abandoned more than a century ago, is a home to approximately 30 medieval fortified dwelling units arranged on vertical terraces above the Mutso-Ardoti gorge, four combat towers and ruins of several old structures and buildings.

Difficult to access, the village retains original architecture, and is a popular destination for tourists and mountain trekkers. Listed, however, among the most endangered historic monuments of Georgia, a project of the rehabilitation of Mutso has been developed since 2004. In 2019, the reconstructed village won the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award.

General information…