​​​ Lost Paradises Travels - Europe  

GEORGIA - Mestia

Mestia is a small town in Upper Svaneti at an elevation of 1,500 metres (4,921 feet) on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountains in the northwestern part of Georgia.
Despite its small size, the townlet was an important centre of Georgian culture for centuries and contains numerous medieval monuments, such as churches and forts, included in a list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Mestia and villages around are famous for their stone defensive towers (often called "Svan towers"). Instead of entrusting the defense of a village or town to a large fortress or castle, each Svan family built their own tower. A typical Svan fortified dwelling consisted of a tower, an adjacent house (machub) and some other household structures encircled by a defensive wall.