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

The Kazakhs are the descendants of Turkic, Mongolic and Indo-Iranian tribes and Huns that populated the territory between Siberia and the Black Sea. They are a semi-nomadic people and have roamed the mountains and valleys of western Mongolia with their herds since the 19th century. The ancient art of eagle hunting is one of many traditions and skills that the Kazakhs have, in recent decades, been able to hold on to. They rely on their clan and herds, believing in pre-Islamic cults of the sky, the ancestors, fire and the supernatural forces of good and evil spirits.

A Taliban helicopter takes off after bringing aid to the site of an earthquake in Gayan, Afghanistan on June 23, 2022. A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring 1,500 more in one of the country's deadliest quakes in decades, the state-run news agency reported. (Photo by Ali Khara/Reuters)

This happy couple started married life on top of the world, having exchanged their vows on mount Everest. Dressed in a full suit and wedding dress, James Sissom and Ashley Schmieder spent days scaling the mountain range in order to be photographed in front of such a breathtaking backdrop. Here: James Sissom and Ashley Schmieder exchange vows on Everest. (Photo by Charleton Churchill/Caters News Agency)

Cha Huilan, a 40-year old Lisu woman, and her daughter leave Lazimi village with a zipline across the Nu River in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan province, China, March 24, 2018. Chinese mountain villagers, cut off from shops and churches by a raging river, use a zipline to cross its violent rapids and jagged rocks. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

As Russia puts the finishing touches to the carefully manicured fields that will host the World Cup from next week, people around the globe are playing soccer on a surprising variety of makeshift pitches. Off the coast of an island in southern Thailand, they play on a floating platform; in the mountains of northern Italy, they kick about in the snow – images captured by Reuters photographers around the world. Here: Local residents play soccer on the top floor of a parking garage in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 4, 2018. (Photo by Darren Whiteside/Reuters)

Ismail Mustafa, seen in 2007. “I was collecting mushrooms on the hill near here. I didn’t see the mine. There was a huge explosion. When I woke up I saw that both my legs were gone; I thought my life was over. My brother and another guy were with me. They made a stretcher from sticks and tied it together with clothing. It took two hours to get off the mountain. ‘My daughter has also been injured. She found a shell and brought it into the house and put it on the fire. She didn’t know what she was doing at the time – she was only three. She is blind and has lost an arm”. (Photo by Sean Sutton for the Mines Advisory Group/The Guardian)

Francisco Javier Moreno (L), 35, and his wife Maria Auxiliadora Canca, 34, dressed as bandits pose for a photo with their horse as they participate in the third edition of “Ronda Romantica” (Romantic Ronda) in Ronda, southern Spain, May 16, 2015. Ronda Romantica is a cultural, historical and tourist event during the three days where thousands of people of Ronda and about fifty towns around of “Serrania de Ronda” (Ronda Mountain Ranges), dressed in traditional costumes, recreate the era of the bandits, drovers and romantic travelers in the nineteenth century. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)