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 tourist catches snowflakes on her tongue during snow fall in Times Square, Midtown, New York, on January 3, 2013. A major snowstorm producing blizzard-like conditions hammered the northeastern United States on Friday, causing more than 1,000 U.S. flight delays and cancellations, paralyzing road travel, and closing schools and government offices. (Photo by Darren Ornitz/Reuters)

Cuban Daymara A., 20, poses for a photograph after she crossed the border from Colombia through the jungle into La Miel, in the province of Guna Yala, Panama December 2, 2015. According to local authorities in La Miel, some 100 to 150 Cubans have been entering Panama from Colombia every day for the last three months. Scores of Cubans have come to Panama as they seek overland passage towards the United States fearing a recent detente between Washington and Havana could end their preferential treatment. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A giant size figure of the United States' goalkeeper Tim Howard is displayed outside a shopping mall in Hong Kong, Thursday, June 12, 2014, to promote the upcoming 2014 World Cup in Brazil. A total of seven 3.5 meters to 4 meters (11 feet 6 inch to 13 feet one inch) tall figures of famous players attract many soccer fans. (Photo by Vincent Yu/AP Photo)

A reveller covered in tomato pulp takes part in the annual “Tomatina” festival in the eastern town of Bunol, on August 30, 2017. The iconic fiesta – which celebrates its 72nd anniversary and is billed at “the world's biggest food fight” – has become a major draw for foreigners, in particular from Britain, Japan and the United States. (Photo by Jaime Reina/AFP Photo)

An Afghan laborer works at a brick kiln, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, 24 February 2020. Afghan President Ghani said on 21 February, said that a seven-day reduction in violence promised by the Taliban will determine the government's next steps in Afghanistan's peace process. The Taliban has announced a decrease in hostilities in an agreement with the United States as a preliminary step to signing a peace deal with Washington on 29 February. (Photo by Ghulamullah Habibi/EPA/EFE)