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92Different western Georgian dialects also feature elements that give them a specialplace in the tapestry of Georgian polyphonic tradition. The Imeretian dialect (the biggestregion in western Georgia), for example, is famous for its riders’ songs and for theflourishing tradition of European-style urban polyphonic songs (we’ll discuss Georgianurban singing traditions a bit later); the Megrealian dialect is known for its combinationof sharp dissonances with a very soft manner of singing (Megrelians also speak their ownlanguage); the Acharian dialect (the only region with Moslem Georgians in westernGeorgia) has two very different styles: (1) the so-called Kobuletian region is very close tothe Gurian style of complex three- and four-part polyphony (according to some scholars,residents in this part of Acharians are Gurians who were under Turkish rule and changedtheir religion), and (2) the so-called Shavsheti region with a two-part polyphonic singingtradition (the only region with two-part singing in western Georgia. Garakanidze, 1991).And of course, there are two very important mountain regions in western Georgia apartfrom the plain regions discussed above: Svaneti and Racha. Some researchers alsoseparate the Lechkhumi dialect (for example, Garakanidze, 1991).Traditional Polyphony in SvanetiSvaneti (particularly the so-called “upper Svaneti”) holds a special place inGeorgian ethnographic literature. This is the most mountainous region of Georgia (themountains here are over 5000 metres high), completely cut off for a good half of the yearfrom the rest of the world. Svanetians are the tallest people in Georgia (and one of the