Mutso

Mutso stands on a rock spur high above the Ardoti gorge in Khevsureti, close to the northern border, a village of around thirty fortified houses and four tall towers built in tight terraces on ground so steep that the roofs of one row form the yards of the next. It was abandoned in the twentieth century and left to collapse until a conservation project between 2014 and 2019 stabilised and partly rebuilt it, work that won a European heritage award. Stone burial vaults stand below the village. Reaching it means a rough drive up the Khevsureti valleys and then a steep climb of half an hour, and the road is open only in the short summer.

What to look for

• Terraced fortified houses - roofs forming the yards of the row above.
• Four stone towers - the defensive structures of the village.
• Burial vaults below - the stone crypts on the slope.
• The award-winning restoration - the 2014 to 2019 conservation work.

When to go

July to September; the road over the Datvisjvari pass is closed by snow for most of the year. A day from Shatili, longer from Tbilisi. Carry identification for border checks.

Things to know

Access is genuinely difficult: a long rough drive requiring four-wheel-drive, then a steep climb. It is a border zone with checks. There are no facilities. The season is short and weather closes the pass without notice.

Nearby

Shatili is north-west; Ardoti lies in the gorge below.