GeorgiaOfficial tourism
Ushguli

Where stone towers touch the clouds

Ushguli

Why go

Ushguli is a living medieval fortress: four hamlets strung along the Enguri River beneath Shkhara's 5,193m glacier, their Svan defensive towers—built between the 9th and 12th centuries—still inhabited. UNESCO recognized this as a masterpiece of mountain adaptation: families lived in these stone sentinels during blood feuds and Mongol raids. At 2,100-2,200m, it is often cited alongside Juf, Switzerland as one of Europe's highest permanently inhabited settlements, but here shepherds still drive cattle through muddy lanes, and grandmothers bake kubdari in outdoor ovens. The isolation preserved something rarer than architecture: a Svan language older than Georgian, oral epic poetry, and pre-Christian rituals beneath Christian crosses. You come for the towers, stay for the unbroken continuity.

On the ground See

  • The Lamaria Church of the Assumption in Zhibiani, its 12th-century frescoes and pagan sacred stones coexisting beneath the peak Shkhara
  • The defensive tower-houses of Chvibiani and Chazhashi, where families still store provisions in the upper machub levels as they have for centuries
  • The four-kilometer walk to the Shkhara glacier tongue, following the Enguri River through wildflower meadows where Svan shepherds graze their flocks in summer

Practical Know before you go

Accessible only by 4WD from Mestia (2.5-3 hours, 40km of rough track, impassable November-April); basic guesthouses operate year-round but full services June-September.

Last reviewed 25 August 2026 · reviewed quarterly