Italy's Mount Etna, Europe's tallest and most active volcano, spews lava as it erupts on the southern island of Sicily, Italy, February 28, 2017. (Photo by Antonio Parrinello/Reuters)

Pan Am aircraft – here in 1963 with the abbreviation PAA for Pan Am Airways – could be seen everywhere, including from the freeway in New York before the Strato Clipper took off for Europe in 1963. (Photo by Imago)

Grand banqueting halls, opulent lobbies and vast ballrooms; you could easily be forgiven for thinking this was a collection of photographs was documenting some of Europe’s grandest hotels. However, a closer look will reveal the majestic rooms to be engulfed in swathes of dust and moss; hotels that once hosted royals and high society abandoned to the elements. This is the latest result of urban exploration photography, going beyond “no entry” signs to capture images of dilapidated buildings across Europe. IT worker Thomas Windisch, from Graz in Austria, indulged his passion for photography by traveling across the continent, visiting over 100 abandoned hotels along the way. Here: inside a hotel in Austria. (Photo by Thomas Windisch/Caters News)

A traditional game that earned hollers from the crowd saw a male rider gallop after a young woman, stretching for a kiss. Only a handful of the men managed the risky peck before the young women turned the tables and thundered after the men with whips in hand. (Photo by Amos Chapple/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Guests arrive for the opening ceremony of the 23rd Life Ball in Vienna May 16, 2015. Life Ball is Europe's largest annual AIDS charity event and takes place in Vienna's city hall. The Life Ball is a charity gala to raise money for people living with HIV and AIDS. (Photo by Leonhard Foeger/Reuters)

A demonstrator jumps from a vehicle of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) during a protest to demand what protesters say is true information from the OSCE about the shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine (since April 2014, the city is the administrative centre of the Donetsk People's Republic), July 23, 2015. The graffiti reads, “Stop moronic war!”. (Photo by Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

The summit of one of Europe's tallest mountains glows like the flame of a candle as the sun rises on a clear morning. The Matterhorn, famous for appearing on bars of Toblerone chocolate bars, reflects the vivid orange light at 5.37am. (Photo by Margarethe Jaeger/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Men dressed as soldiers pose with models before the opening of the Gamescom 2013 fair in Cologne,Germany, on August 23, 2013. The Gamescom convention is Europe's largest video games trade fair. (Photo by Ina Fassbender/Reuters)