Place · Svaneti
Svaneti
Georgia’s high kingdom of towers, song and fierce mountain pride.
Ushba · Upper Svaneti
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A place in People & Places — the regions & communities of Georgia
Tucked into the highest folds of the Caucasus, Svaneti is Georgia at its most elemental — a region of glaciers, switchback roads and stone towers that have stood for the better part of a thousand years. Upper Svaneti is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its village of Ushguli sits among the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe, at roughly 2,100 metres.
The towers — koshki — were raised as medieval strongholds against invaders and avalanches alike. Svaneti was never fully conquered, and for centuries it guarded icons and treasures carried up from the lowlands. The Svans keep their own language, still spoken in the villages, and a fierce, warm pride you feel the moment you arrive.
Above it all rise Georgia’s greatest peaks — the twin summit of Ushba, and higher still Shkhara, over 5,000 metres. Between them run the trails, including the classic four-day trek from Mestia to Ushguli that so many travellers call the highlight of their whole journey.
Come in summer, when the passes are open and the meadows flower; the winters are long and beautiful, but they cut the villages off for months. Either way, you arrive with people who belong here — the guesthouse families, guides and singers we’ve returned to for years.
“Up here the mountains keep their own time — and so, thankfully, do the people.”
From the Living Roots Journal
Stories & mentions
Journeys through Svaneti
What you can do here
These are the Living Roots experiences that pass through or centre on Svaneti — the starting points we’d shape into your own tailor-made journey.
Trek itInto the Wild — the Mestia–Ushguli trail
Hear it sungCulture & History — towers & polyphony
Meet the hostsA Journey with Purpose — the families here
Stand under Ushba
Svaneti is best met slowly, and with someone who belongs here.