Mestia is a wonderful little town lying at an altitude of 1,500 metres in an area of steppe that rises gradually up towards the surrounding Greater Caucasus mountains. The town contains many facilities for tourists and vestiges of its ancient past. The first remarkable thing I noticed in Mestia were the towers that stand at each of the four corners of the town. Once used for defensive purposes, they today seem to be just as much a part of the urban landscape as the various hotels and chalets. The several ski slopes located here also make the town a good winter destination.
Mestia has a population of around 15,000 and serves as an important cultural centre for the Svans: an ancient ethnic group who inhabit the mountains of northern Georgia. It's for all these reasons combined that I consider Mestia to be one of the interesting places to explore when visiting Georgia.