Svanetian Village of Adishi on the Verge of Collapse
Years ago, French photo-artist, Francis Prymerski, shot the famous clip of the Erisioni singing and dancing ensemble ‘Georgian Legend’ in France. After that, he desperately fell in love with Georgia and came to settle here. The European photographer has visited almost all Georgia and, while traveling to Svaneti, he discovered a picturesque village called Adishi where, reportedly, the traditional Svanetian towers preserving an important aspect of Georgian history are on the verge of collapse. And that is not the only problem.
“There are towers that date back to the Middle Ages and ancient houses on the verge of destruction- nobody seems to care,” Prymerski says. “These towers are the witnesses of our history and represent monuments of Georgian art dating back centuries.”
This is not the first time Adishi has caught a foreign eye, as in the 1890s, the Italian photographer and mountaineer Vittorio Sella was captivated by the beauty of this very village, shooting 14 towers. Now most of those towers are about to disappear, and Prymerski is open about his disappointment.
“I’m deeply shocked. Why aren’t these buildings being protected? This panorama is like a dream,” Prymerski says from the location itself, speaking in a video that went viral on social media, earning over 200,000 Likes on Facebook. “This abandoned house is a monument of cultural heritage and it’s on the edge of collapse. This should be stopped first and foremost by the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection. History is being destroyed. Adishi is the most beautiful place in Georgia. It needs to be preserved. Not all countries can take pride in such richness. My heart screams: Do something, help this village!”
And there are more problems. The village has no school or kindergarten. The local school was closed in 2002, as the village became less populated. Now people are moving back, a request has been made to the Ministry of Education to restore the local school. Local community head Elisabed Kaldani wrote an application several months ago, but has yet to hear back. “The lack of a school is very problematic for both our village and our future,” Kaldani says. “Our children can’t get secondary education. They have to go to the next village, Ipari, 11km from Adishi. In winter, because of restricted movement, children are absent from school for weeks… we need an educational center in Adishi,” she emphasized.
In spite of the lack of reply, they do not lose hope. “We believe they will be interested in this matter and listen to us. The restoration of a school is the requirement of not only our village but also of the nation, as Georgia more than ever needs the rural population to return to their homes and villages, as well as to have an educated future generation,” Kaldani adds.
Young local resident, Goneli Avaliani, returned to the village five years ago and confirms that there are more villagers who wish to come back. “A lot of people want to live here again, and restore their traditional houses, however, because of the lack of finances, they can’t. Almost all the old houses here are flanked with towers. Locals might be able to restore the houses but no one can afford to rehabilitate the towers as well. That’s why we’re asking for help. The access road was rehabilitated this year but to encourage the population to settle back here, a school, kindergarten and restored houses are necessary- this will also increase tourism and help the residents support themselves,” he says.
The village also has no electricity and Avaliani says the men have to go into the woods once a week to bring firewood. “We work with our bare hands and trudge through deep snow. It can be dangerous as avalanches are not uncommon.”
There is also no doctor and some illnesses can be fatal.
As the stones fall from the weakened towers, the villagers beg the world to sit up and take notice. “We need some attention,” Avaliani says. “The more people that can live here, the better care we can take of the area ourselves.”
Maka Lomadze