The Svaneti museum: icons hidden from Mongols and Bolsheviks

By Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhD · 15/09/2026

Updated 17 October 2026

The Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography occupies a modern building on the hill above Mestia, and it holds one of the most remarkable collections in the Caucasus: gold and silver icons from the 10th to 14th centuries, illuminated gospels, processional crosses, chased metalwork, and a great deal that would be behind glass in a national museum anywhere else. Almost none of it was made in Svaneti. All of it was hidden here.

The safe

Svaneti’s geography made it a vault. One road in, along a gorge that could be held by a few men; mountains on every other side; a population of armed families with towers who did not take orders. When the Mongols came in the 1230s, when Tamerlane came at the end of the 14th century, when the Persians and Ottomans partitioned the lowlands in the 1500s, the churches and monasteries of Georgia sent their most precious objects to Svaneti for safekeeping, to be held in village churches under the protection of the community. The invaders never got up the gorge. The objects stayed.

They stayed, in many cases, for six hundred years. Village churches in Svaneti — tiny, frescoed, locked, with a family responsible for the key — still hold icons that were sent up from Kutaisi or Kartli in the Middle Ages and never reclaimed. The community regarded them as its own, and sold nothing; a Svan proverb has it that a man who sells an icon will not live out the year.

The museum

The Soviet state, which was not superstitious, began gathering the treasures in the 1930s, and the museum was founded in 1936, partly to protect the objects from theft and partly to control them. Its collection now includes the Iprari and Lagurka icons, the illuminated Adishi Gospels of 897 — one of the oldest Georgian manuscripts — and the repoussé icons of Saint George that are Svaneti’s signature: the saint on horseback, spearing not a dragon but the Roman emperor Diocletian, in silver gilt, over and over, from different centuries and workshops. The ethnographic rooms show the tower-house interiors, the carved wooden chairs, the copper cookware and the Svan hats of felt.

The building was rebuilt in 2013 and the display is excellent. Allow ninety minutes; the icon rooms deserve most of it.

The churches

The museum is the concentrate; the churches are the source. Lamaria at Ushguli, Taringzel above Mestia, the church at Lagurka in Kala with its 12th-century frescoes: each holds what it holds, and a guide who knows the keyholders can open doors that are otherwise closed. Photography inside is usually forbidden, and the silence is the point.

See it with GTour

The museum is the third morning of the Mestia & Ushguli tour, and the guide arranges church visits along the road to Ushguli on day two.

This story in Georgian — ქართულად: shenidasveneba.ge

Quick answers

What is the Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography? It is a museum located in a modern building on a hill above Mestia, Georgia. It holds one of the most remarkable collections in the Caucasus, including gold and silver icons from the 10th to 14th centuries, illuminated gospels, processional crosses, and chased metalwork.

Why does Svaneti hold so many treasures that weren't made there? Svaneti's geography made it a natural vault, with a single defensible road into the region and mountains on every other side, protected by armed families living in stone towers. When invaders such as the Mongols in the 1230s, Tamerlane, and later the Persians and Ottomans threatened Georgia, churches and monasteries sent their most precious objects to Svaneti for safekeeping, and the invaders never reached them.

How long have some of these objects stayed in Svaneti? In many cases the icons and treasures have remained in Svaneti's village churches for six hundred years, sent up from places like Kutaisi or Kartli in the Middle Ages and never reclaimed. The communities regarded them as their own and refused to sell them, with a Svan proverb warning that a man who sells an icon will not live out the year.

When was the Svaneti Museum founded, and why? The museum was founded in 1936 by the Soviet state, which began gathering the treasures in the 1930s. The aim was partly to protect the objects from theft and partly to control them.

What are some highlights of the museum's collection? The collection includes the Iprari and Lagurka icons, the illuminated Adishi Gospels of 897 (one of the oldest Georgian manuscripts), and repoussé icons of Saint George in silver gilt, Svaneti's signature image, showing the saint on horseback spearing the Roman emperor Diocletian. The ethnographic rooms also display tower-house interiors, carved wooden chairs, copper cookware, and Svan felt hats.

Are there other places to see Svaneti's religious treasures besides the museum? Yes, village churches such as Lamaria at Ushguli, Taringzel above Mestia, and the church at Lagurka in Kala with its 12th-century frescoes still hold their own treasures. A guide who knows the keyholders can arrange access to these otherwise closed doors, though photography inside is usually forbidden.

How can travelers visit the museum and churches with GTour? The Svaneti Museum is included on the third morning of GTour's Mestia and Ushguli tour, with visits to about ninety minutes recommended, focusing on the icon rooms. The guide also arranges stops at the churches along the road to Ushguli on day two of the tour.