Khevsureti, Folk Traditions

Sergi Makalatia (1893-1974) was a Georgian ethnographer who researched Georgian history, archaeology, numismatics, art and ethnography. From 1921 to 1935 he worked as a senior scholar at Georgia’s State Museum and participated in the establishment of regional museums in such towns as Mestia (Svaneti(a) in 1936) and Gori, where he served as Director from 1937 to 1948. From 1930 he produced a series of valuable descriptions of traditional local customs for several Georgian provinces.

 

Presented in our book are some of the most interesting historical practices from the description of Khevsureti, a region in Georgia’s

north-centre/east which is bordered by Tusheti to the east, of which the main point of interest concerns a strangely daring custom that formalised a bond between a young couple, which, despite the intimacy permitted, was not expected to lead to them marrying.