Ushguli

Uschguli (Georgian უშგული ) is a community of four villages at the upper end of the Enguri gorge in Upper Svaneti, the present administrative region Samegrelo and Upper Svaneti in Georgia.

The four villages are spread over a distance of less than two kilometers along the Enguri: from Murqmeli ( მურყმელი ), on the right bank in about 2100 m altitude over Tschaschaschi ( ჩაჟაში, Chazhashi ) and Tschwibiani ( ჩვიბიანი ) to Schibiani ( ჟიბიანი ) in almost 2,200 meters above sea level. The top three villages are situated on the left bank; Schibiani just five miles below the glacier, where the Enguri entfließt, and twelve kilometers southwest of the mountain Shkhara, the second highest summit of the Greater Caucasus and the highest mountain in Georgia.

Approximately 70 to 80 families (about 250 people ) live in the community in which there is also a small school. For up to six months a year is Uschguli snow, which is why the road is often closed in the region about 40 kilometers to the capital Mestia.

The villages of Uschguli are known for their defense towers and since 1996 part of the UNESCO world heritage. Besides the typical swanetischen towers are various religious buildings such as a chapel from the 12th century.