Omalo

Omalo lies high in Tusheti, among the eastern Georgian mountains. Its old settlement clings to a rocky slope beneath the fortress of Keselo, where houses and defensive works formed a compact community. Built of local stone, the older houses had thick walls, small openings and stone roofs, arranged on terraces along the hillside. Keselo's towers offered families refuge in wartime; their builders stacked flat pieces of slate without mortar. The fortress and village show how life in the highlands combined shelter, residence and defense.