Mutso is a small village in Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

. One of the former strongholds of the historic Georgian province of Khevsureti

Khevsureti

Khevsureti/Khevsuria is a historical-ethnographic region in eastern Georgia. They are the branch of Kartvelian people located along both the northern and southern slopes of the Great Caucasus...

 (now part of Mtskheta-Mtianeti

Mtskheta-Mtianeti

Mtskheta-Mtianeti is a region in eastern Georgia comprising the town of Mtskheta, which serves as a regional capital, together with its district and the adjoining mountainous areas.- External links :...

 region), it is located on a rocky mountain (1880 m) on the right bank of the Andakistskali river (ანდაქისწყალი).

Geography

The village, almost completely abandoned more than a century ago, is a home to approximately 30 medieval fortified dwelling units arranged on vertical terraces above the Mutso-Ardoti gorge, four combat towers and ruins of several old structures and buildings. Difficult to access, the village retains original architecture, and is a popular destination for tourists and mountain trekkers. Listed, however, among the most endangered historic monuments of Georgia, a project of the rehabilitation of Mutso has been developed since 2004.

Legends

A legend has it that the villagers worshiped the Broliskalo Icon of Archangel

Archangel

An archangel is an angel of high rank. Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and by most Christians. Michael is the only archangel specifically named in the Protestant Bible...

. They were renowned as fighters and hunters, and considered themselves permanent members of the army of the sacred flags and guardians of fabulous treasury donated to the Icon over the centuries. The legends say the treasury that is still kept in the high mountains around Mutso waiting for the chosen one to come.

As the legend puts it “the Shetekauri

Shetekauri

Shetekauri — Georgian family from Khevsureti. Supposedly it was derived from a man’s name Shete. The representatives of one of the smallest families of Georgia reside mostly in Kakheti region. The historical documents do not store any information about the family till the twentieth century...

s dug Mutso”, which indirectly indicates that the family founded the village or the family history started together with the founding of Mutso.

Readings

• Shorena Kurtsikidze & Vakhtang Chikovani, Ethnography and Folklore of the Georgia-Chechnya Border: Images, Customs, Myths & Folk Tales of the Peripheries, Munich: Lincom Europa, 2008.

External links

• Georgian House: Mutso project

• The article also incorporates a translation of original Georgian text found at Expedition in Khevsureti

• Images from the Georgia-Chechnya Border, 1970-1980: Visual Anthropology of the Peripheries(http://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/exhibitions/photo2/photo2_splash.html)