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

A Chinese tourist wears protective gloves as she holds a baby Siberian tiger as they pose for pictures at the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park on August 16, 2017 in Harbin, northern China. The center is one of two Siberian tiger parks in the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Russia. It is considered the world's largest for breeding the Siberian, or Amur, tiger which is listed as endangered by the World Wildlife Federation. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Concertgoers dance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, U.S., April 15, 2018. Coachella became one of the world' s premier music festivals not only for the A- list performers. The two- weekend party in the California desert has become a major event in its own right for the fashion. While designers have heavily marketed their brands to Coachella, the fans who draw the most notice often do so by embracing their own sartorial flair, driven by a sense of innovation and, among revelers in the searing heat, of inhibition. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Recording artist Beyonce performs onstage during The 59th GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on February 12, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS)

A woman in a wedding dress walks on the dried-up riverbed of the Jialing river, a tributary of the Yangtze, that is approaching record-low water levels in Chongqing, China on August 18, 2022. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter attend the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Tourists visit teamLab Planets Tokyo in Tokyo on January 10, 2025. Japan on January 15 will announce tourist figures for the year 2024, widely expected to break the record set in 2019. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)