Gergeti Trinity Church (bottom left) as the morning sun creeps down the flanks of the 5,033-meter Mount Kazbegi (Mkinvartsveri), the highest peak in eastern Georgia.

A shepherd leads his flock alongside a river near the village of Khiso. The river runs loud enough to drown out the noise of the 4-kilogram Inspire 2 drone used to shoot this photo.

Morning mist drifts over a small church near Ukhati along the north-south Georgian Military Highway.

Ancient defensive towers sprout from the top of the village of Omalo in Tusheti National Park, which borders Russia's Daghestan and Chechnya regions.

Sheep stream into the morning sunlight after being released from their corral near Omalo. Livestock are returned to captivity every evening as protection against wolves.

The last light of day catches the houses of Ukhati, on the Georgian Military Highway.

The remains of the fortified village of Mutso, situated atop a razor-sharp ridge near the border with Chechnya.

A stone watchtower in the Caucasus Mountains overlooks the Datvisjvari Pass near the village of Shatili.

The Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument, a Soviet-era landmark near Gudauri that illustrates various scenes from Russian and Georgian history.

Crypts on a clifftop 1 kilometer from the border with Chechnya. When plagues swept through the region, infected villagers were banished to these stone buildings to await death. Inside, the remains of apparent plague victims can still be seen today.

Gremi church and castle, with its backdrop of vineyards lit by the morning sun.

The ancient cave city of Vardzia in southern Georgia.

Despite being a busy tourist destination, some of the cave dwellings are still inhabited by a group of monks, who live in a section of the caves roped off from the tourists.

The job of shearing sheep (and one calf!) is almost complete at this shepherd settlement on plains in central Georgia.

A stork perched atop the ancient Baraleti church, near Tsikhisjvari

The Katskhi Pillar, where an elderly Georgian monk has lived for the past 24 years in order to be "closer to God." The monk has his food winched up by volunteers from the monastery below.

Khertvisi Fortress, one of the oldest in Georgia. The rock-top fortress was reportedly sacked by Alexander the Great on his march toward the Far East.

Uplistsikhe, an abandoned rock-hewn town in the central Kartli region that was of one of the earliest settlements in Georgia.

The Alaverdi monastery among the vineyards of eastern Georgia. The monks inside the monastery sing songs about the wine they produce.

The Nekresi monastery and the fertile plains of the eastern Kakheti region.

The Jvari monastery glowing in the first light of day. Beneath the monastery lies the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers. In the background is Mtskheta, the ancient capital of Georgia.

Shepherds drive their herd down a quiet country lane in the vicinity of Gori.

The coastal town of Batumi silhouetted in the setting sun.

Batumi after dark. After a bitter separatist war in Abkhazia in the early 90s, Batumi, with murkier water and less appealing beaches than the breakaway region to the north, has gone all out to attract tourism with casinos and high-rise buildings.

Turning away from the neon and nightclubs, this picture shows the quiet hills around Batumi’s Convent Of The Holy Trinity.

Kutaisi, Georgia’s third-largest city, on a still, hazy morning.

Georgia’s parliament building in Kutaisi. The controversial structure was built on the site of a Word War II memorial. During the demolition of the Soviet-era monument a woman and her eight-year old daughter were killed by chunks of flying concrete.

Rabati castle, looking out over the multicultural town of Akhaltsikhe, where you can find a synagogue, church, and mosque within a stone’s throw of each other.

The Chronicles Of Georgia monument. The little-known (by tourists at least) landmark is the work of Zurab Tsereteli, the same artist behind the divisive Peter the Great statue in central Moscow.

A valley in the hardscrabble town of Chiatura, where manganese is mined. This factory processes the rare mineral and makes it ready for transport to steel-working operations in Georgia and abroad.

A cable car in Chiatura. The town’s dizzying geography inspired Soviet engineers to install a network of "rope roads" to transport workers up to their mines.

This passenger cable car has run almost continuously since its first run in 1954.