1. XUANKONG SI – CHINA
According to my knowledge there are five holly
mountains in China and Heng shan or Mt.Hengis one among them that is
located in the province of Shanxi. Overlooking the wooded Golden Dragon
river also called as Jinlong he and close to the base of Mt.Hengis
Xuankong Si, the meaning of this word is Monastery in Mid Air. People
of China call it as Hanging Moastery. It was built in 491 AD and it still
attaches to the side of the mountain, it has been built using techniques
of engineering that are still of important interest to the architects
of today. First, the horizontal shafts were cut into the side of the
mountain to act as anchor points.
This amazing walled town
has been created on the top of huge rocky outcrop in the Mountains of
Haraz of western central Yemenin San ‘a’ Governorate region. The history
of this place very ancient and even the residents of this place are not
sure when the first settlers came here but it is said to date back to
12
th century officially. The houses are made strong and they
feature ample storage facilities such as reservoirs and granaries in
case of siege. This is a remote and secluded place, its traditions and
cultures have continued into 21
st century too.
This is a strange but
beautiful place situated in Turkey’s ancient region also known as
Anatolia. It may be one of the oldest instances of non stop human
habitation in the world. It is an amazing example of how people have
given shape and altered the unusual geology which already existed and
yet successful in holding on to natural mystery of is rocky spires and
breath taking landscapes. It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site
and you can find records of 6
th century BC that explains it as one of the aged regions of thePersian Empire.
Located 355 kilometres to the south of Tunis (the capital of Tunisia)
is the remarkable settlement of Matmâta. Here the inhabitants have dug
deep pits into the ground and then tunneled into the side walls to
create their homes. Not only is this site ancient and probably dates
back to the Roman period and Punic Wars, its existence remained largely
unknown until the mid 1960’s. It truly came to the attention of the
world when it was selected as the location for Luke Sky Walker’s home on
the planet Tatooine in the Star Wars film – A New Hope (1977). There
are various legends to explain why the Berbers of this region started to
build their homes in this fashion. One is that it was to hide from the
invading Egyptians and another is that they already existed to some
extent and were the original caves of desert monsters that had long
since departed.
In the city of Firenze (Florence) Italy is a remarkable bridge.
Known as the Ponte Vecchio, or the “old Bridge” in English, it spans the
river Arno. The bridge seen in the photograph was originally
constructed in 1345AD after two of its predecessors had been destroyed
by flood waters. What makes it unusual is that it is one of the few
surviving bridges to have tenanted shops built along its span.
Originally these were almost exclusively butchers, perhaps because of
the direct access to the waters of the river and the ease of disposing
offal and the like. Over the centuries the shops and houses along the
bridge were increased and so was its prestige. In 1593 butchers were
forbidden to sell on the bridge and the shops and houses were quickly
taken over by gold and jewel merchants – a tradition that persists to
this day.
In the heart of central Greece and on the edge of the Plain of
Thessaly are the Metéora, which literally means the rocks suspended in
air. It’s from this word that we get the modern word meteors – rocks
from outer space. In reality they are pillars of harder than average
sandstone that have survived the erosion of the softer material that
once surrounded them. Six religious retreats have been built on top of
these pillars and one of the most famous is the Roussanou Monastery. It
was rebuilt by two brothers, Maximos and Ioasaph (Joseph)*, in 1545 and
dedicated to St. Barbara whose sacred day is the 4th of December. Over
the centuries its fortunes grew and faded. From 1730 to 1937 it was
largely uninhabited although many of its relics remained within its
walls. Shortly after the Nazi occupation of Greece in 1941 it was
stripped of its treasures by the occupying soldiers. Most of these have
never been recovered. Since the construction of a wooden bridge in
1800’s it has been relatively easy to visit the location and the nuns
are said to be quite welcoming.
7. SEALAND (PRINCIPALITY)
This very strange place to live and is often described as a
micro-nation due to that fact that it is (was) outside of the
territorial waters of any country. Some reviewers have even awarded it
the status of the World’s smallest sovereign state. In fact, it is an
old world War II Maunsell Sea Fort and is about 13 kilometres off the
island of Great Britain. The nearest coastal town of significance is
Harwich located in Suffolk. Major Paddy Roy Bates, an already famous
figure in British pirate radio, occupied the platform during September
1967 with the intention of broadcasting Radio Essex from the site.
Since this date the micro-nation of Sealand has had an interesting
history including an invasion, a hostage crisis, hashish smugglers,
several leadership battles, the assassination of Gianni Versace, a
passport scandal and a minor diplomatic crisis involving Germany.
8. SETENIL DE LAS BODEGAS
It’s amazing how people have the ability to take even the most
unusual of environments and still find a way to build their homes.
Setenil De Las Bodegas is one such place. Located in the Andalucía
province of Spain it has a history that may date back many thousands of
years. What makes it special is the way that its inhabitants have carved
away the walls of the gorge and then built their houses into the
recesses. These are not the ruins of Mesoamerican Native Indians or the
abandoned caves of lost biblical civilizations. These are homes that
have been built and rebuilt over the centuries and are still occupied to
this day. Outcrops of ancient rock loom over the main street that has
been built beneath. In one place there are houses that have a million
tons of rock above them and on top of that rock there are even more
houses.
9. CASA DO PENEDO – PORTUGAL
Literally translated the name means House of Stone and it is located
in the Fafe mountains of Northern Portugal. It is ten kilometres
north-east of Fafe and can be found on Google earth at these
co-ordinates: 41° 29′ 17.52″ N 8° 4′ 4.84″ W. It was originally built
as a mountain retreat around 1974 by an engineer from nearby Guimarães
who was inspired by the natural space provided by four large boulders.
Due to its isolation it has on occasions been the target of vandalism
and robbery. Its unusual design has also stimulated a steady traffic
of tourists who are not beyond peering through the windows or even
trying to enter uninvited. At the time of writing this article (2010)
it is owned by Vitor Rodrigues who has had to have heavy security doors
and barred windows fitted to protect the house. The interior is larger
than might be expected and is beautifully rustic with a large wooden
bench-style table and balconies.
10. CAVE HOUSES
Unless your name is Fred Flintstone, odds are you probably never
really considered the idea of living in a cave. And hell, even old Fred
didn’t live in a cave; he lived in a pile of rocks stacked precariously
on top of each other, ready to collapse and wipe out his entire cartoon
family at any moment. But I’m guessing your name isn’t Fred Flintstone,
which means that’s all pretty much irrelevant. Just like the idea of
living in a cave. But believe it or not, cave dwellings aren’t just for
missing links or super villains. Nope, cave houses are for people like
you and me. Well, if you have $1.9 million dollars to drop on one of
these bizarre abodes, anyway. That’s roughly the asking price for a cave
house that you can actually buy in Arizona, which is actually a pretty
damn cool place. From the outside it doesn’t look like much, probably
because it’s, ya know, a cave in the side of a mountain. But with three
bedrooms and 37 acres, it’s the perfect staging area for covert missions
against GI Joe.
Source : http://www.lolbing.com
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