Khevi ( ka, ხევი) is a small historical-geographic area in northeastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. It is included in the modern-day

Kazbegi district Kazbegi ( ka, ყაზბეგის მუნიციპალიტეტი) is a district of Georgia, in the region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti in east-north Georgia. The main settlement is Stepantsminda, accounting for about half of the total ...

, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region (

mkhare A ''mkhare'' ( ka, მხარე, ''mxare'') is a type of administrative division in the country of Georgia. It is usually translated as "region". According to presidential decrees in 1994 and 1996, Georgia's division into regions is on a pr ...

). Located on the northern slopes of the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

mountains, it comprises three gorges of the rivers Truso, Tergi ( Terek) and Snostsq’ali. The landscape of Khevi is dominated by

alpine meadow Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

s dotted with

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

, mountain passes and

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

s, and the

Mount Kazbek Mount Kazbek or Mount Kazbegi is a dormant stratovolcano and one of the major mountains of the Caucasus, located on the Russian-Georgian border - in Russia's North Ossetia region and Georgia's Kazbegi District. At 5,034 m (16,515 ft) high, i ...

(locally known as Mkinvartsveri, i.e. “ice-capped”), a dormant 5047-meter high

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

. The area is a popular tourist destination. It is a part of the projected Khevi-Aragvi Biosphere Reserve. Among the important cultural sites of Khevi are the Gergeti Trinity Church (fourteenth century), Garbani Church (ninth to tenth century), Sioni Basilica (ninth century) and castle, Betlemi Monastery Complex (ninth to tenth century), and Sno fortress. The name of this province, literally meaning "a gorge", comes from the ancient and early medieval district of Tsanareti known to the Georgian annals as Tsanaretis Khevi, i.e. the Tsanar Gorge. People of Khevi are ethnic

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, ...

called Mokheves. History, traditions and lifestyle of the Mokheves are very similar to those of other mountaineers of eastern Georgia. Since ancient times, Khevi has been of great strategic and military importance due chiefly to its immediate neighborhood to the

Darial Pass The Darial Gorge ( ka, დარიალის ხეობა, ''Darialis Kheoba''; russian: Дарьяльское ущелье; os, Арвыком, ''Arvykom''; inh, Даьра Аьле, ''Dära Äle''; Chechen: Теркан чӀаж, ''Te ...

, which connects

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

with

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. Free of typical feudal relations, they lived in a patriarchal community governed by a '' khevisberi'' (i.e. "gorge elder") who functioned as a judge, priest and military leader. The Khevian mountainous communities were regarded as direct vassals of the Georgian crown except for the period from the end of the seventeenth century to 1743, when the area was placed under the control of the semi-autonomous Duchy of Aragvi. The fierce resistance offered by the Mokheves to the attempts of the Aragvian lords has been greatly reflected in local folklore as well as classical Georgian literature. The establishment of Russian rule in Georgia (1801) was met with hostility by the mountaineers who staged an uprising in 1804, which was promptly suppressed by the Tsarist military. However, the people of Khevi retained their medieval traditions and a unique form of society until the harsh

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

rule changed their lifestyle through permanent repressions, forcibly removing several families to the lowlands.

References

External links

Photos of KheviThe Guide to Khevikhevi.ge

{{coord, 42.6975, N, 44.519, E, type:adm3rd_source:itwiki, display=title Former provinces of Georgia (country) Historical regions of Georgia (country) Nature conservation in Georgia (country) North Caucasus

See also

References

External links