A male Sumatran elephant calf named Rocky Balboa, born on May 25, 2024, stands next to its mother, a 40-year-old elephant named Lembang, at the Surabaya Zoo during the introduction of the 3-month-old calf to the public in Surabaya on August 31, 2024. (Photo by Juni Kriswanto/AFP Photo)

A pitch invader tries to get through to Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal during the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League A Group A1 match between Portugal and Scotland at Estadio do SL Benfica on September 8, 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Pedro Nunes/Reuters)

Ecuador's Ronald Zabala G., riding, Forever Young Wundermaske, fall off their horse during the Equestrian Cross Country competition at Chateau de Versailles for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Versailles, France. (Photo by Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP Photo)

American actress Kathryn Newton during the Chloe Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on February 29, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Team Kazakhstan throw Zhaklin Yakimova of Kazakhstan into the air while they perform their routine in the Mixed Team Acrobatic during the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup 2024 - Stop 2 at Aquatics Centre on May 05, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Read Ziegler of the United States competes in the bike segment of the 2024 Intermountain Health IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship on May 04, 2024 in St George, Utah. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images for IRONMAN/AFP Photo)

Vardzia is a cave monastery site in southern Georgia, excavated from the slopes of the Erusheti Mountain on the left bank of the Mtkvari River, thirty kilometres from Aspindza. The main period of construction was the second half of the twelfth century. The caves stretch along the cliff for some five hundred metres and in up to nineteen tiers. The Church of the Dormition, dating to the 1180s during the golden age of Tamar and Rustaveli, has an important series of wall paintings. The site was largely abandoned after the Ottoman takeover in the sixteenth century. Now part of a state heritage reserve, the extended area of Vardzia-Khertvisi has been submitted for future inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List

These illuminating images show the crumbling remains of some of the worlds places of worship. The shots include golden chapels, overgrown synagogues and eerily silent rooms that were once used for prayer. They were visited by Matthias Haker, a 31-year-old photographer from Potsdam, Germany. Adding to the general intrigue of his images, Matthias never discloses the location of a shot – not even the town, country or continent. Here: The Church of All Saints. (Photo by Matthias Haker/Caters News)