Guide
Maden Köyü — Bazgiret under its old name — belongs to the Şavşat district of Artvin, in the area east of the Karçal mountains also called İmerhev. Where the old name comes from is not certain: it may have been taken from the plant cover of the valley, or it may derive from the family name of the first household to settle there, recorded in Georgian as Bezgi-yent and now Çimen.
The stream that carries the village's name rises on Kotela at 2,500 metres, drops through the five waterfalls of Maden Köyü, then cuts across the village land and runs north toward Çağlayan. The village itself lies in a valley closed on three sides by rock and forest, 27 kilometres from Şavşat and about 1,900 metres higher.
Everything typical of the İmerhev region can be found here. The ground is broken by the number of springs. The climate is that of the Black Sea, shading toward the interior into a transitional climate where the effects of eastern Anatolia are felt in places. Between that and the change in altitude, the plant cover is thoroughly varied — an hour's walk passes through an unlikely range of it.
How far back settlement goes is also uncertain. There is a castle on the Çağlayan–Maden road and, on the Sazgirel ridge, a building of which only the foundations remain in a heap, put up either as a watch post or for religious reasons; it can be guessed that people first settled this then-forested valley about a thousand years ago, after those were built. There is no professional accommodation business yet, though some families have taken courses and are able to offer it, and there is unlimited room for camping. Day trips to the various high pastures can be made from the village in spring and summer.
