Shatili ( ka, შატილი, ''Šat’ili'' ) is a historic highland village in

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 ...

, near the border with Chechnya. It is located on the northern slope 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 historical Georgian province of Upper

Khevsureti Khevsureti ( Georgian: ხევსურეთი, ''a land of valleys'') is a historical-ethnographic region in eastern Georgia. They are the branch of Kartvelian ( Georgian) people located along both the northern (Pirikita khevsureti, Georgia ...

, which is now part of the modern-day region (''

mkhare A ''mkhare'' ( ka, მხარე, ''mxare'') is a type of administrative division in the country of Georgia. It is usually translated as "region". According to presidential decrees in 1994 and 1996, Georgia's division into regions is on a pr ...

'') of

Mtskheta-Mtianeti Mtskheta-Mtianeti ( ka, მცხეთა-მთიანეთი, literally "Mtskheta-Mountain Area") is a region ( Mkhare) in eastern Georgia comprising the town of Mtskheta, which serves as a regional capital, together with its district and t ...

. As of 2014 census, population of the village was 22.

Geography

Located in the deep Arghuni gorge at approximate 1,400 meters, the village is actually a unique complex of medieval-to-early modern fortresses and fortified dwellings of

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

and mortar which functioned both as a residential area and a fortress guarding the northeastern outskirts of the country. The fortress consists of the terraced structures dominated by flat-roofed dwellings and some 60 towers which cluster together to create a single chain of fortifications. Unique architectural methods and thought are realised in Shatili: selection of location, development of the land with complicated relief, rational land tenure, multifunctionalism, vertical zoning of construction, optimal orientation. Both single monuments and the overall urban structure with their characteristic components (towers, residential complexes, sowing, chapels) are of special importance.

History and current status

Shatili was once part of the

Kingdom of Kakheti The Second Kingdom of Kakheti ( ka, კახეთის სამეფო, tr; also spelled Kaxet'i or Kakhetia) was a late medieval/ early modern monarchy in eastern Georgia, centered at the province of Kakheti, with its capital first at G ...

. The population of Shatili, along with that of most of the Khevsureti, was resettled under the pressure from the Soviet authorities to the plains in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, the exotic landscape of the empty village was used as a setting for a series of Georgian films about the past life of the highlanders.Bruce Grant & Lale Yalçın-Heckmann (ed., 2008), ''Caucasus Paradigms: Anthropologies, Histories, and the Making of a World Area'', pp. 23-24. Volume 13 of Halle studies in the anthropology of Eurasia. Lit, Shatili is still inhabited by a dozen or so families, but is inaccessible by road during wintertime. The village is a favourite destination for tourists and mountain trekkers.

Statements of authenticity and/or integrity

The authenticity of Shatili is completely preserved in architectural forms, materials, location and other necessary attributes. The physical condition of buildings can be characterised as good.

Comparison with other similar properties

At national level, Shatili might be compared with Upper Svaneti World Heritage site. Both properties, due to their isolation, make it unique in the region. The only direct comparisons at wider extent that might be made would be with isolated communities in the Himalayan massif, but these stem from a completely different cultural tradition.

Readings

*Shorena Kurtsikidze & Vakhtang Chikovani, ''Ethnography and Folklore of the Georgia-Chechnya Border: Images, Customs, Myths & Folk Tales of the Peripheries,'' Munich: Lincom Europa, 2008.

References