- Collection: Tusheti
6 Items
Abano Pass into Tusheti
This is the only overland route to Tusheti from the rest of Georgia, apart from a hiking trail that leads to Khevsureti. The pass is only open in high summer and is inaccessible for around eight months a year.
Dartlo
Dartlo is located above a ford in the valley. The closest building to the river is a ruined stone structure that, on closer investigation possessed the traces of a fresco of an angel. This had obviously been a church in the past and was the only evidence of Christianity encountered on the first visit to Tusheti in 2006. By 2016 the village was more developed and second only in size to Dzveli Omalo for tourist infrastructure.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Church, Dartlo, Fresco, Georgia, Tower, Tusheti
Dochu
This village is notable for the shrine at its centre. A large and substantial stone cairn is topped with stag antlers and females in our party were told that we were not to approach the structure. The local belief is that the fertility of the men of the village is damaged should women pass too close to the shrine.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Antlers, Architecture, Fertility, Georgia, Pagan, Shrine, Tusheti
Kvavlo
Kvavlo is the name given to the cluster of towers that sits on a rock outcrop over 300 metres above Dartlo. The towers are currently being restored and some of the buildings are now used as restaurants and hostels in the summer months.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Dartlo, Georgia, Kvavlo, Tower, Tusheti
Omalo
Omalo is the largest village in Tusheti and one of very few to be inhabited all year round. It has grown a great deal in the last ten years as it has become the centre for tourism in the Tusheti National Park. Dzveli (Old) Omalo has the largest concentration of guest houses within the park and the visitor centre lies just outside the village. It also boasts a twentieth century church and a pagan ritual enclosure south of the old part of the village. As at Dartlo, the cluster of towers above the village is given a different name to the rest of the settlement. In Omalo the towers are called Keselo.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Church, Georgia, Keselo, Omalo, Pagan, Tower, Tusheti
Shenakho
Shenakho is one of very few villages in Tusheti to have an old church (19th century) - which is dedicated to St. George. There is a ruined church in Dartlo and a modern (20th cenury) church in Dzveli (old) Omalo, a small chapel in Parsma and a less well-used church in Iliurta, but Shenakho is the sole village that appears to have a relatively continuous and well-established practice of Christianity if the evidence of the well-maintained church is taken into account. However even in this case the nishi (pagan shrine enclosure) of the village stands directly to the north-east of the church.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Church, Georgia, Pagan, Shenakho, Tusheti