Tucked away in the Caucasus Mountains in the north of Georgia, is the historic province of Khevsureti. Its men were once renowned in martial arts, and especially for their warfare with the Muslim population of the Northern Caucasus including the Chechens, the Kists, and the Dagestans.

Due to the geographic, ethnic and religious complexity and lack of industrialization in the Greater Caucasus, the tribes of the North Caucasus used to frequently attack and rob the mountain-dwelling Georgians. In order to protect their villages, Khevsurs built their houses very close to each other so that they formed a unified defensive wall. These villages played the crucial role of a northern barrier for the whole of Georgia and defended the nation from intrusions of nomadic tribes.

The fortified village of Shatili. Photo credit: Levan Gokadze/Flickr