Mutso

Mutso is one of the most dramatic fortress villages in Khevsureti, a cluster of abandoned stone buildings clinging to a rocky ridge above the Ardoti gorge, 11 km from Shatili. Around thirty terraced fortified dwellings and four combat towers survive, among them the Borchashvili fortress-house, the shrine of St George of Broliskalo and the Torghva and Cholokaant towers. The village stood all but deserted for some two centuries; the 2014 census recorded 15 residents. A rehabilitation programme begun in 2004 earned the site a Europa Nostra European Heritage Award in 2019. There is no road to the village itself — the last stretch is a steep footpath — and the practical season runs from late May to mid-October.