Chazhashi

Chazhashi is one of the four villages of the Ushguli community in Upper Svaneti, in Mestia Municipality, at about 2,160 m above sea level and some 45 km east of Mestia. Thirteen Svan tower houses and four medieval castles survive here, one of them traditionally linked to Queen Tamar. Together with Zhibiani, Chvibiani and Murkmeli, Chazhashi forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage property Upper Svaneti, inscribed in 1996 under reference 709. The 2014 census recorded 28 residents. A major avalanche in January 1987 damaged the village, and restoration work has been under way since 2000. Snow covers the area for roughly six months a year, so the visiting season runs from late spring to early autumn.