Abstract
Abstract. Ushguli, located in the Upper Svaneti region (Georgia), represents the highest point of human occupation before the permanent snowed highlands that separate Georgia from Russia. The local inhabitants (Svan) are described as an aggressive community with warrior habits. Their history is one of permanent conflict. Most of the major empires of the ancient world (Persia, Greece, Rome and Byzantium) disputed this territory. In the Middle Ages, when natural conditions secured their isolation, the established feudal system preserved, until recent times, the warrior culture of the Svan through a judicial system based on blood feuds. The necessity to defend their territory from invaders, as well as the violent conflicts between families, influenced their settlement morphology, as well as their vernacular architecture. Four small settlements (Chvibiani, Zhibiani, Chazhashi and Murkmeli) constitute the Ushguli province, inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list since 1996. This paper aims to study the Ushgulli traditional urban morphology, which does not correspond to any classical urban element. The overlapping between private and public spaces and the inexistence of a standard concept of street or square are some of their peculiar features; some of which have an important influence on the organization of vernacular buildings. These buildings do not present a dominating facade or any other type of hierarchical composition towards the exterior. Under the scope of the Project 3D Past a multidisciplinary approach (Architecture, Urban Morphology and History) is used to better understand the original features of these peculiar settlements.
Highlights
Ushguli is a Svanetian province comprised of four small settlements (Chvibiani, Zhibiani, Chazhashi and Murkmeli) situated in the Caucasus mountains range, along the northern Georgian border
This paper addresses the historical and geographical background in which these settlements emerged and evolved, to better understand their urban morphology
In Chazhashi one can mention the two isolated religious buildings dominated the highest area, located in the East area of the mount, where there is no presence of other dwellings. Despite this singular feature and their social importance, their small dimension and the prominence of the several fortified towers clearly minimize the impact of these churches as village references. This multidisciplinary approach, crossing different elements such as architecture, urban morphology, geography and history helped to explain the original features of the four settlements that belong to the province of Ushguli in Upper Svaneti, Georgia
Summary
Ushguli is a Svanetian province comprised of four small settlements (Chvibiani, Zhibiani, Chazhashi and Murkmeli) situated in the Caucasus mountains range, along the northern Georgian border. The Caucasus mountain, reaching an altitude of 3000m, sometimes even 3500m, surrounds these settlements nestled along the Inguri valley and keeps them in almost complete isolation for most of the year This enduring isolation warranted additional protection to Upper Svaneti, converting this region to being the cultural strong-house of all Georgia. The Ushguli territory and its history are analysed to set the background into which the urban morphological traces of the villages of Chvibiani, Zhibiani, Murkmeli and Chazhashi are analysed, finishing with a more detailed analysis of the urban layout of the last village.
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