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Svan Towers
Svan towers ( ka, სვანური კოშკი, tr) refers to the tower houses built as defensive dwellings in the Georgian historical region of Svaneti (present-day Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti). These towers are unique to the region and were primarily built between the 9th and 12th centuries, during the Georgian Golden Age. However, the origins of the tower likely date back to prehistory. Description The Svan towers are either freestanding or attached to residential houses. The towers usually have 3-5 stories, and the thickness of the walls decreases with height, giving them a tapering appearance. The upper floors of the towers are exclusively used for defense, with machicolated parapets and embrasures providing cover when throwing projectiles. The connected houses are usually 80-130 square meters in ground area and have 2 floors: the ground floor of the house, called the ''machub'', and the upper floor, called the ''darbazi''. The ground floor is a single hall with a heart ...
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Near Mestia, Svan Towers (35252565354)
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Tower House
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces. At the same time, they were also used as an aristocrat's residence, around which a castle town was often constructed. Europe After their initial appearance in Ireland, Scotland, the Stins, Frisian lands, Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country and England during the High Middle Ages, tower houses were also built in other parts of western Europe, especially in parts of France and Italy. In Italian medieval communes, urban ''palazzi'' with a very tall tower were increasingly built by the local highly competitive Patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician families as power centres during times of internal strife. Most north Italian cities had a number of these by the end of the Middles Ages, but few no ...
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Svaneti
Svaneti or Svanetia (Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia (country), Georgia. It is inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians. Geography Situated on the southern slopes of the central Caucasus Mountains and surrounded by 3,000–5,000 meter peaks, Svaneti is the highest inhabited area in the Caucasus. Four of the 10 highest peaks of the Caucasus Mountains, Caucasus are located in the region. The highest mountain in Georgia, Mount Shkhara at 5,201 meters (17,059 feet), is located in the province. Prominent peaks include Tetnuldi (4,974 m / 16,319 ft), Shota Rustaveli (4,960 m / 16,273 ft), Mount Ushba (4,710 m / 15,453 ft), Ailama (4,525 m / 14,842 ft), as well as Lalveri, Latsga and others. Svaneti has two parts corresponding to two inhabited valleys: * Upper Svaneti (''Zemo Svaneti'') on the upper Inguri River; administratively part of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti; mai ...
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Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti (Georgian: სამეგრელო-ზემო სვანეთი) is a region (Mkhare) in western Georgia with a population of 308,358 (2021) and a surface of . The region has Zugdidi as its administrative center, while Giorgi Guguchia is governor of the region since June 2021. Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti is compiled of the historical Georgian provinces of Samegrelo ( Mingrelia) and Zemo Svaneti (i.e., Upper Svaneti). Subdivisions The region has one self governing city (Poti) and 8 municipalities with 143 administrative communities (temi), totalling to 531 populated settlements: * Eight cities: Abasha, Khobi, Martvili, Poti, Jvari, Zugdidi, Senaki and Tsalenjikha. * Two dabas: Mestia, Chkhorotsku * Villages: 521 Geography Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti is traversed by two sections of the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude. The Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Mkhare can be split into two historical regions. Svaneti and Samegrelo. In the northern part of ...
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Georgian Golden Age
The Georgian Golden Age ( ka, საქართველოს ოქროს ხანა, tr) describes a historical period in the High Middle Ages, spanning from roughly the late 11th to 13th centuries, during which the Kingdom of Georgia reached the peak of its power and development. In addition to military expansion, this period saw the flourishing of medieval Georgian architecture, painting and poetry, which was frequently expressed in the development of ecclesiastic art, as well as the creation of first major works of secular literature. Lasting more than two centuries, the Golden Age came to a gradual end due to persistent invasions of nomads, such as Mongols, as well as the spread of Black Death by these same nomadic groups. Georgia further weakened after the Fall of Constantinople, which effectively marked the end of the Eastern Roman Empire, Georgia's traditional ally. As a result of these processes, by the 15th century Georgia fractured and turned into an isolated enc ...
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Machicolated
A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, Calcium oxide#Weapon, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall. A smaller version found on smaller structures is called a box-machicolation. Terminology The structures are thought to have originated as Crusader imitations of mashrabiya. The word derives from the Old French word ''machecol'', mentioned in Medieval Latin as ''machecollum'', probably from Old French ''machier'' 'crush', 'wound' and ''col'' 'neck'. ''Machicolate'' is only recorded in the 18th century in English, but a verb ''machicollāre'' is attested in Anglo-Latin. Both the Spanish and Portuguese words denoting this structure (''matacán'' and ''mata-cães'', respectively), are similarly composed from "matar canes" meaning roughly "killing dogs", the latter word being a Pejorative, ...
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Embrasures
An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out throughout the thickness of a wall by the establishment of a bay. This term designates the internal part of this space, relative to the closing device, door or window. In fortification this refers to the outward splay of a window or of an arrowslit on the inside. In ancient military engineering, embrasures were constructed in towers and walls, in particular between the merlons and the battle. A loophole, arrow loop or arrowslit passes through a solid wall, and thus forms an embrasure of shooting, allowing archer or gunner weapons to be fired out from the fortification while the firer remains under cover. This type of opening was flared inward - that is: the opening was very narrow on the outside, but wide on the inside, so that ...
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Chazhashi
Chazhashi ( ka, ჩაჟაში) is a village in the Mestia Municipality, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Georgia. It is located in the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus mountains, in the upper Enguri River valley, at the elevation of 2,160 m above sea level. The village is part of the historical region of Svaneti and center of the Ushguli community. Its medieval fortified structures are inscribed on the registry of Georgia's Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Upper Svaneti entity. Geography Chazhashi is the main settlement of Ushguli, a conglomeration of four villages and one of the highest inhabited places in Europe. Under Georgia's current subdivision, it is part of the Mestia Municipality, located some 45 km west of the municipal center, the town of Mestia, at the confluence of the Enguri and Shavtskala rivers. Cultural heritage Chazhashi is home to dozens of structures dating from the mediev ...
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Ushguli
Ushguli ( ka, უშგული) is a community of five villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge in Svaneti, Georgia. Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. Compared to somewhat more developed towns like Mestia, Ushguli is not in an accessible location, which has preserved many of the villages' medieval characteristics, including unique defensive tower houses called Svan towers. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown9 reasons to visit Georgia now CNN, 17 May 2016 Because of their preservation and traditional architecture, Ushguli, Mestia, and the surrounding area was recognized as the ''Upper Svaneti'' UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Location and features Ushguli is located at an altitude of near the foot of Shkhara, one of the highest summits of the Greater Caucasus mountains. About 70 families (about 200 people) live in the area, enough to support a small school. The area is snow-covered for 6 months of the year, and often the road to ...
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UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 193 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered at the World Heritage Centre in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions that facilitate its global mandate. UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations's International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.English summary). Its constitution establishes the agency's goals, governing structure, and operating framework. UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the Second World War, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboration and dialogue among nations. It pursues this objective t ...
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World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural heritage, cultural and natural heritage, natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to Human, humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a somehow unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable and has special cultural or physical significance. For example, World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains, or wilderness areas. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet, ...
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