Today I'll take you on a tour of places where thrill and wonder await you everywhere.
First let's talk about a town in Spain known as Queenka. This place is famous not only for its beauty but also for its dangerous location. The most unique feature of this city is its houses known as hanging houses which seem to be floating in the air when viewed from the valley below as if they could fall at any moment. These houses are built on the edge of a cliff with wooden beams extending out from the rock face with a drop of hundreds of feet below.
What's astonishing is that these buildings have stood in this manner for centuries withstanding the harsh weather conditions. Nowadays these houses have been converted into a museum and restaurant for visitors.
Now let's leave Spain and head to Greece where Matura is a unique blend of nature and human worship. This place is famous for its tall towering mountains that rise straight up from the ground towards the sky. On the peaks of these mountains places of worship have been built.
These buildings are so high that clouds often appear to be floating below them. It's difficult to imagine the time and effort that went into constructing these places of worship. Nowadays stairs have been built for visitors but as you climb them you get a sense of how challenging life must have been hundreds of years ago.
A similar example can be found in Italy where the church of Madonna della Corona is built into the side of a mountain. This church isn't located at the peak but rather in a natural niche halfway up the vertical face of the mountain. From a distance it appears as if the building is a part of the mountain itself emerging from the rocks. The church is situated at a height of approximately 2000 feet above the ground. The purpose behind its construction was to create a peaceful place for worship isolated from worldly concerns. Initially the path to reach it was extremely difficult and could only be accessed on foot but now a tunnel has been dug to make the journey easier.
If we head towards Asia in Bhutan there's a monastery called Tiger's Nest or Paro Taktsang that appears to be suspended on the edge of a cliff. It's considered Bhutan's most sacred site. Legend has it that a guru flew here on the back of a tiger and meditated here hence the name Tiger's Nest. The building is perched 3,000 feet above the ground attached to the cliff face. In 1998.
This beautiful structure made of wood and stone is proof that humans can achieve what seems impossible.
In China there are several such places where humans have settled despite the risks. One famous example is a village known as the Rock Village situated at the top of a mountain. Until recently the only connection to the outside world was via bamboo ladders suspended thousands of feet in the air. Children used these perilous ladders daily to attend school and adults for daily necessities one wrong step meant certain death. Yet people have lived here for centuries as the location provided security and refuge during wars. When the world discovered this village everyone was shocked that in the 21st century people were living under such conditions.
In China there's another place known as the world's narrowest city. This city is situated on the banks of a river flowing between two large mountains. The space is so limited that the city's width is just 30 meters in some areas. With virtually no land available buildings have been constructed tall and stand right on the river's edge.
Picture source www pixabay.com
