Avresi, Yusufeli

The Tao region, where Avresi village is located, was one of the regions that made up Georgia in the Middle Ages. Indeed, the Ottomans seized this region from the Georgians in the years following their 1549 Georgian campaign (Gürcistan seferi). The village's old church, Avresi Church, must have been from this period.^[2]

Avresi or Avres is not mentioned as a village in old Ottoman registers. However, it appears as a village under the name Avres (آوریس) in the 1928 Ottoman village list. At that time, Avres was one of the 14 villages belonging to the Erkinis sub-district of Yusufeli district in Artvin province.^[3] The fact that its name is not mentioned in the 1933 village list indicates that Avres was connected to İşhan village as a neighborhood between these two dates.^[4] Avres is still one of the neighborhoods of İşhan village today.^[5]

The Avresi Church, located in the Avresi, is a single-nave structure. The remains of the church, which is completely destroyed, are located at the western end of the Avresi. İşhani Castle is located between the Avresi Church and the İşhan village center.^[6] A walnut tree in the Avresi, whose age is unknown, was placed under protection by the Trabzon Regional Board for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in 1999.^[7]