|Time zone||Georgian Time (UTC+4)| General information
According to the current administrative subdivision of Georgia,
Mestia is located in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region (mkhare),
some 128 km northeast of the regional capital of Zugdidi. Mestia
and the adjoining 132 villages form Mestia District (raioni).
Its area is 3,044 km²; population – 14,248 (2,600 in the town
itself; 2002 Georgia census). The population is mostly Svans, a
cultural and linguistic subgroup of the Georgians. In Mestia is
Queen Tamar Airport since 2010 and the airport is operated by
the state-owned company United Airports Georgia. Historically
and ethnographically, Mestia has always been regarded a chief
community of Zemo, or Upper Svaneti province. It was formerly
known as Seti (სეთი). Despite its small size, the townlet was an
important centre of Georgian culture for centuries and contains
a number of medieval monuments - churches and forts - included
in a list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 1968, it was
granted a status of a to