In pictures: Kyrgyzstan's sacred mountain

For thousands of years Suleiman-Too mountain has been a place of pilgrimage by people hoping for miraculous cures. For example, people visit "mother cradle cave" in the hope that they can conceive. BBC Kyrgyz paid a visit to the latest World Heritage Site.

Aymamal believes that she would never have had her little girl without help from the mountain's powers. The mountain is favourite recreation ground for people from the nearby city of Osh.

The son of a local sheikh, Shakhjahan, shows how the prophet Suleiman is thought to have prayed at a rock on the mountain. Suleiman-Too lies at the crossroads of Central Asia's ancient trade routes and has been revered by travellers for years.

The founder of the Mogul dynasty, Babur, spent his youth here. Destroyed by the Soviets and now restored, the site blends Islamic and pre-Islamic beliefs and is said to be the finest example of a sacred mountain in Central Asia.

The museum of "Spirituality and Culture" is built into the mountainside. It houses 400 exhibits from the many religions that have been associated with the mountain over the centuries.

Beggars wait outside the mosques for worshippers to leave. The 17 places of worship on the mountain are linked by paths which criss-cross the slopes.

An 11th century bath house was discovered nine years ago but grass growing between the ancient stones poses a threat to the site. Some visitors to the mountain claim to have been cured of headaches and back pain and to have been blessed with long life.

Kyrgyz people traditionally lived in yurts. This one was built to mark the 3000th anniversary of the ancient city of Osh, which sits under the mountain.

The Asaf ibn Burkiya tomb was built in the 17th and 18th centuries over the ruins of an older tomb housing the body of Saint Burkhiya, one of Suleiman's disciples.

Thousands of petroglyphs cover the rocks. They depict humans, animals and geometric forms. Experts are worried about how to preserve the rock carvings.