[1] According to Rayfield, in 790 BC, King Menua of Urartu invaded Shesheti in Kingdom of Diauehi, which is the Kartvelian province of Shavsheti.

The princedom of Shavsheti included today's districts of Şavşat, Borçka, and Murgul in Turkey and Lower Machakheli in Adjara (Georgia).

The fortress above the town is primarily of Georgian construction and probably dates from the 9th century A.D., when it was rebuilt by Adarnase I of Iberia.

The area has a cold inland climate, somewhat tempered by being above the Black Sea coast, but at these altitudes winter lasts a long time; it snows from November to April.

In this landscape there is little agricultural land, no industry and the only real potential income is from tourism (people on trekking holidays), herding animals on the mountainside and beekeeping.