Bauchi Qaldani, 84, smokes a cigarette in front of his house in the village of Adishi. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

A Svan woman feeds her cows in a mountain village. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

Towers in Svaneti were used as strongholds, sheltering families involved in blood feuds. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

Mamuka Qaldani, Bauchi's son, visits the St. George's church in Adishi. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

A Svan woman drives her one cow back from pasture. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

Qaldani was called an "elder" since becoming the oldest man in his village at the age of 26. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

A man looks from the entrance of a Svaneti tower, which could only be entered with a ladder. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

After a matter is settled by elders, families often prepare a feast to celebrate a reconciliation. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

Qaldani's wife Natalia helps her husband saw firewood. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

A view on villages in Svaneti, with one of the highest peaks, Ushba, in the background. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

Natalia sits with her 2-year-old granddaughter Ani in Natalia's home. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

Mamuka shows a stuffed wild mountain goat - the "first serious" kill which Bauchi shot in his 20s. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

Dozens of the stone towers cover the countryside. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

Qaldani splits firewood in the yard outside his house. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)

A winter dusk settles across Adishi, a remote mountain village in the northwest region of Svaneti. (Photo: Temo Bardzimashvili)