Medieval stone towers dot the alpine valleys of Upper Svaneti in north-western Georgia, silhouetted against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. The defensive towers, or ‘koshki’, are a defining part of the landscape of Svaneti, the highest inhabited area of the Caucasus.
Originally built to protect Svans from invaders, they have survived for centuries due to the isolated nature of the region.

Georgia once ranked among the world’s top five biggest tea producers, but after the fall of the Soviet Union, the industry withered. Now a new generation of tea producers is using organic practices to revive the industry, drawing in tea-lovers and tourists from across the world.

Georgia’s mosaics, once designed to project Soviet values, now lie neglected, a divisive reminder of the past. Volunteers are racing to safeguard and record the tiled artworks before they vanish.

In Georgia, often referred to as the 'birthplace of wine', women are making their mark on an 8,000-year-old tradition. The Georgian wine industry has long been male-dominated, but a growing number of women are now running vineyards, producing wine, and reshaping the culture.

When travelers head to the Pankisi Valley, the warnings often begin before they arrive, usually from the mouth of a concerned taxi driver, unsure they should be driving tourists to this remote destination.

On a hot day in early September, a crowd of spectators take their seats inside a monastery complex in the central Georgian village of Zemo Nikozi. A few hundred metres north lies South Ossetia, and during the 2008 August War the complex saw heavy bombing. But today the mood is bright — it is the second day of the Nikozi International Animation Film Festival, and for the rest of the week, the site’s stone episcopal palace will host screenings of animated films from around the world. This particul...