Ushguli

---

title: "Ushguli" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-mestia-municipality", "world-heritage-sites-in-georgia-(country)", "svaneti"] description: "Community of villages in Svaneti, Georgia" topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-mestia-municipality" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushguli" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Community of villages in Svaneti, Georgia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
official_name	Ushguli
native_name	უშგული
image_skyline	Ushguli_Svaneti_Georgia.JPG
imagesize	280px
image_caption	Ushguli
pushpin_map	Georgia#Georgia Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
pushpin_label	Ushguli
pushpin_mapsize	280
map_caption	Location of Ushguli in Georgia
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1	Mkhare
subdivision_name1	Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Mestia
population_as_of	2014
population_footnotes
population_total	228
timezone	Georgian Time
utc_offset	+4
timezone_DST
coordinates
footnotes	{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
child	yes
official_name	Upper Svaneti
criteria	(iv)(v)
ID	709
year	1996
area	1.06 ha
buffer_zone	19.16 ha
::

|official_name = Ushguli |native_name = უშგული |image_skyline = Ushguli_Svaneti_Georgia.JPG |imagesize = 280px |image_caption = Ushguli |pushpin_map = Georgia#Georgia Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti |pushpin_label = Ushguli |pushpin_mapsize = 280 |map_caption = Location of Ushguli in Georgia |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = |subdivision_type1 = Mkhare |subdivision_name1 = Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti |subdivision_type2 = District |subdivision_name2 = Mestia |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |population_as_of = 2014 |population_footnotes = |population_total = 228 |population_metro = |population_density_km2 = |timezone = Georgian Time |utc_offset = +4 |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = |website = |footnotes = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site | child = yes | official_name = Upper Svaneti | criteria = (iv)(v) | ID = 709 | year = 1996 | area = 1.06 ha | buffer_zone = 19.16 ha ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/ZemoSvanetiHistorical.jpg" caption="The historic region of Upper Svaneti in Georgia"] ::

Ushguli (უშგული ) is a community of five medieval villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge in Svaneti, Georgia. Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. Compared to somewhat more developed towns like Mestia, Ushguli is not in an accessible location, which has preserved many of the villages' medieval characteristics, including unique defensive tower houses called Svan towers. Because of their preservation and traditional architecture, Ushguli, Mestia, and the surrounding area was recognized as the Upper Svaneti UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Location and features

Main article: Svan towers

Ushguli is located at an altitude of 2100 m near the foot of Shkhara, one of the highest summits of the Greater Caucasus mountains. About 70 families (about 200 people) live in the area, enough to support a small school. The area is snow-covered for 6 months of the year, and often the road to Mestia is impassable.

The Lamaria church (named for the goddess Lamaria in Svaneti mythology) in Zhibiani is located on a hilltop dominating the village. The chapel dates back to the 12th century and contains Georgian Golden Age-era frescoes.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Ushguli,_Svaneti,Georgia(33).jpg" caption="Medieval towers in Ushguli"] ::

The most notable feature of the villages in Ushguli are the defensive tower houses found throughout the community. These houses, between 3-5 stories tall, were built primarily between the 9th and 12th centuries. Although many of the towers in the lower towns such as Mestia have fallen into disrepair, the isolation of Ushguli has preserved the towers. Chazhashi, one of the villages within the community, contains over 200 of these towers and has been preserved as a Museum-Reserve.

The Mikhail Kalatozov silent film documentary Salt for Svanetia was filmed in Ushguli.

Constituent villages of Ushguli

Ushguli consists of the following villages:

• Zhibiani (ჟიბიანი)
• Chvibiani or Chubiani (ჩვიბიანი
• Chazhashi or Chajashi (ჩაჟაში)
• Murqmeli (მურყმელი)
• Lamjurishi (ლამჯურიში)

References

References

1. {{Georgian Census 2014
2. [http://www.nplg.gov.ge/ic/DGL/work/Englisurebi/Roland_Toplishvili/Svanet_and_its_Inhabitans.htm Svaneti and Its Inhabitants, Roland Topchishvili]
3. ''[http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/13/travel/reasons-to-visit-georgia/ 9 reasons to visit Georgia now]'', [[CNN]], 17 May 2016
4. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120124152518/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/2011/entries/118765/view Village Ushguli, Georgia], [[National Geographic (magazine). National Geographic]], Retrieved: 7 March 2016
5. Michael Spilling, Winnie Wong. ''Cultures of the World: Georgia.'' [[Marshall Cavendish]]: 2008, p. 10
6. [[Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown]], [http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/13/travel/reasons-to-visit-georgia/ 9 reasons to visit Georgia now], [[CNN]], 17 May 2016
7. "Upper Svaneti". United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
8. (28 October 1993). "World Heritage List: Upper Svaneti -- No 709 (ICOMOS Report)". ICOMOS.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::