Georgi Chartoliani is the priest in Mestia. Everyone knows him and when you ask for him in Mestia probably you’ll get the exact answer of where he is. “In the church”, “in his house” or “at his daughter’s cafe”.

What describes him best is his active engagement in protecting the Svan Language. He is an activist for the language. He is concerned about its disappearance and actively promotes it to the youngsters of Svaneti. Among the causes of its disappearance, he emphasises a lack of support from the government, the current migration processes and projects such as dams. He exclaims: “We call for protecting this rich and historically important language, from such barbaric and terrible acts.”

Georgi is the priest from Mestia.

Visit his hometown