Shatili is a Khevsur village-fortress from Vazha Pshavela's poem "Aluda Ketalauri". Kistin thieves, severed hands that children played with, bulls hacked to death on a sanctuary - all this was here. The houses had loopholes instead of windows to shoot back at mountain robbers. Each tower house had its own owner. The severed hands of Kistin thieves (Chechens) were nailed to the walls of the houses. Those who were caught. The more hands, the more honorable. And the Kistins, in turn, sacrificed the Khevsurs on the graves of their murdered relatives. In short, read Pshavela, and welcome to Shatili!
The Shatili fortress from the inside. The houses are built of slate. The roads are too.
Wooden balconies were added later. For a long time, there were just holes in the wall from the beams. It can be assumed that there really was a balcony in this place, but it served as a toilet. In Georgia, there are still village houses where the toilets are outside, and waste products simply fall down into the street.
Inside one of the buildings. It's hard to say how exactly it was built. Obviously, there were more wooden floors.
From the outside, menacing Shatili resembles a fairy-tale town from Disney cartoons. The only thing missing is a rainbow.
View from the hill. Several jeeps are parked below. It is possible to get to these places without a jeep (I checked), but it is a pity to lose the car.
There is a chzhvari sanctuary above the city and a cemetery nearby.
An Orthodox church was recently built here.
Plague cemetery away from Shatili. In the 19th century, Georgia was ravaged by plague and smallpox. In mountain villages that fell under the epidemic, people were buried alive. There are no doors in these crypts. Roofs or walls were dismantled and then walled up again. The only connection with the outside world for those doomed to die was through a window. But this connection was short-lived. The epidemic took people quickly.
Skeletons of the unfortunate.
Lots of skeletons.
Watchtower in the village of Mutso. It is 15 km beyond Shatili.
The same, but on top. Crooked, but it fulfilled its guard duty.
"Dead city" Mutso of the 16th century. For many years it was abandoned. But now the city is not so dead. Restoration works are underway. There is hope that in a couple of years the city will become almost residential. There will be hotels, restaurants and an information tourist center.
Mutso is large. The central tower will not be restored. They say it is too dangerous - it will fall. Let it remain crooked.
Orthodox Church.
Another plague burial ground. This time in Mutso.
Watchtower above the city.
View of the village from above.
A Muslim (apparently) cemetery on the side of a hill.
Return to Shatili. One last look at the legendary fortress city – and back to Tbilisi.
Source: travel.ru