World Heritage Upper Svaneti Georgia

Preserved by its long isolation, the Upper Svaneti region of the Caucasus is an exceptional example of mountain scenery with medieval-type villages and tower-houses. The village of Chazhashi still has more than 200 of these very unusual houses, which were used both as dwellings and as defence posts against the invaders who plagued the region. The Committee decided to inscribe the nominated property on the basis of cultural criteria (iv) and (v), considering that the region of Upper Svaneti is of outstanding universal value being an exceptional landscape that has preserved to a remarkable degree its original medieval appearance, notable for the distribution, form, and architecture of its human settlements

Upper Svaneti
Continent: Europe
Country: Georgia
Category: Cultural
Criterion: (IV)(V)
Date of Inscription: 1996

Upper Svaneti Heritage

Upper Svaneti is an exceptional landscape that has preserved to a remarkable degree its original medieval appearance, notable for the distribution, form, and architecture of its human settlements. The earliest references to Svaneti occur in the works of Strabo (66 BC-AD 24), when it had already been settled for many generations and had achieved a high level of culture. From the 4th century AD it was a vassal-state of the Kingdom of Lazika.

World Heritage Upper Svaneti Georgia
Tower Houses

Browse Gallery Plus UNESCO Storyline

The Historical Background

In the 8th century the Abkhaz Kingdom was established in western Georgia, to be in its turn absorbed into the United Kingdom of Georgia that was finally consolidated by David the Builder (reigned 1089-1125). A strong movement for Svan independence developed, and its feudal lords often chose the side of forces opposed to the Georgian state. This did not hinder the political and economic growth of Georgia, which spread to cover much of the region between the Black and Caspian Seas under George II and his daughter Tamar in the succeeding centuries. This was accompanied by a cultural flowering, of which Svaneti was one of the main centres, famous for its schools of metalwork, painting, wood carving, and architecture.

The mountainous region of Upper Svaneti occupies the upper reaches of the lnguri river basin, between the Caucasus and Svaneti ranges. The characteristic landscape of Upper Svaneti is formed by small villages, dominated by their church towers and situated on the mountain slopes, with a natural environment of gorges and alpine valleys and a backdrop of snow-covered mountains.

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