Chazhashi ( ka, ჩაჟაში) is a village in the
Mestia Municipality,
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti ( Georgian: სამეგრელო-ზემო სვანეთი) is a region ( Mkhare) in western Georgia with a population of 308,358 (2021) and a surface of . The region has Zugdidi as its administrative center, ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
. It is located in the southern foothills of the
Greater Caucasus
The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...
mountains, in the upper
Enguri River
The Enguri ( ka, ენგური, tr, xmf, ინგირი, ingiri, ab, Егры, ''Egry'' russian: Ингури, ''Inguri'') is a river in western Georgia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Svaneti
Svaneti or Svanetia (Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia. It is inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians.
Geography
Situated on the southern sl ...
and center of the
Ushguli community. Its medieval fortified structures are inscribed on the registry of Georgia's
Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance and listed as a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
as part of the
Upper Svaneti entity.
Geography
Chazhashi is the main settlement of Ushguli, a conglomeration of four villages and one of the highest inhabited places in Europe. Under Georgia's current subdivision, it is part of the Mestia Municipality, located some 45 km west of the municipal center, the town of
Mestia, at the confluence of the Enguri and Shavtskala rivers.
Cultural heritage
Chazhashi is home to dozens of structures dating from the medieval and early modern periods of the history of Georgia, namely, its northwestern highland province of
Svaneti
Svaneti or Svanetia (Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia. It is inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians.
Geography
Situated on the southern sl ...
. Of these are 13 well-preserved Svanetian
tower houses—a typically three- to five-floor structures attached to the family houses—as well as four medieval castles, including one called Tamar's Castle in reference to the queen-regnant
Tamar of Georgia
Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr, Literal translation, lit. "King Tamar") ( 1160 – 18 January 1213) queen regnant, reigned as the List of monarchs of Georgia#Kings of unified Georgia (1008–1490), Queen of Kingdom of ...
(
r. 1184–1213), who is believed by local folk tradition to have used it as her summertime residence. There are also two stone churches and several accessory buildings. The churches, one named St. George (Jgrag) and the other named the Lamaria (after the goddess
Lamaria in Savneti mythology), date from the 10th and 11th–12th centuries, respectively.
The former is part of the Tamar Castle; the latter is
frescoed.
Several monuments of Chazhashi were damaged by a
massive avalanche in January 1987. Beginning in 2000, the Georgian government and the National Committee of the
International Council on Monuments and Sites
The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS; french: links=no, Conseil international des monuments et des sites) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the worl ...
(ICOMOS Georgia), presided over multidisciplinary research of the village's cultural heritage and restoration and conservation projects.
Population
Chazhashi is a village, with the permanent population of only 28 persons, all
Svans, an ethnic Georgian subgroup, as of the 2014 nationwide census.
See also
*
Svan towers
References
{{Reflist
World Heritage Sites in Georgia (country)
Populated places in Mestia Municipality
Svaneti
Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia