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Geotour

Photos: Maesi64 (CC0) · Wikimedia Commons

Adishi

Svaneti · Village

Getting there
No public road
Best time
Late June–mid September
Recommended stay
1 night

About Adishi

Adishi is a small Svan village at about 2,040 m in Upper Svaneti, with a cluster of medieval defensive towers and a view up the valley to the Adishi glacier. It is the overnight stop at the end of day 2 on the four-day Mestia–Ushguli trek, about 11 km from Zhabeshi. Only a few dozen people live here year-round (44 in the 2014 census), and most visitors arrive on foot, stay one night in a family guesthouse and leave early the next morning for the Chkhutnieri Pass.

Tours Including Adishi

See the tour

Must-See Attractions

  • Svan towers

    A group of medieval stone towers stands among the houses; you see them best from the path as you walk in from Zhabeshi.

  • Adishi glacier

    The glacier and the peaks behind it fill the head of the valley and are visible from the village and the next morning's trail.

  • Village churches

    Small medieval churches stand in and around the village; they are usually locked, so ask your guesthouse host.

Nearby

  • Adishi river crossing and Chkhutnieri Pass

    About 1–1.5 h up the valley the trail fords the river, then climbs to the pass (2,722 m) with glacier views.

  • Iprari

    The next overnight stop on the trek, about 18 km over the Chkhutnieri Pass (7–9 h on foot).

  • Zhabeshi

    The previous overnight stop, about 11 km (5–6 h on foot) to the west.

Location42.9968° N, 42.9135° EView on map

Good to know

Getting there

No public road; reached on foot on the Mestia–Ushguli trek, day 2 from Zhabeshi (about 11 km, 5–6 h), which is about 15 km from Mestia.

Best time

Late June–mid September

Best time

The trek is usually passable from late June to early October, and July–August bring the most settled weather and open guesthouses, while snow can linger on the Chkhutnieri Pass into early summer.

Recommended stay

1 night

Getting there

On foot on the Mestia–Ushguli trek (day 2, about 11 km from Zhabeshi).

Heads-up

The next morning you ford the Adishi river, which is lowest early in the day; locals often wait with horses to take hikers across for a cash fee.

Cash

There is no ATM or card payment, so bring enough cash from Mestia for the guesthouse and the horse crossing.

Time needed

One night.

History & culture

History

Adishi is one of the old free communities of Upper Svaneti, where each family built a stone tower for defence in the Middle Ages. The village is known for the Adishi Gospels, a Georgian manuscript written in 897 at the Shatberdi monastery in Klarjeti and later kept in Adishi for centuries. The manuscript is now kept in the Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography in Mestia.

Local Cuisine

Guesthouses serve Svan home cooking: kubdari (bread filled with spiced meat), chvishtari (cornbread with cheese) and Svan salt, a mix of salt, garlic and dried herbs.

Accommodation

A handful of simple family guesthouses, with shared bathrooms in most and dinner and breakfast served by the host. There are no hotels, shops or cafés in the village.