Our world has some very amazing feats of architecture. They are not just some single beautiful buildings but an entire town built on the tops of towering cliffs or carved into the sides of mountains. They are so wonderful that the first glimpse of towns like this can take your breath away. You will enjoy that same thrill when looking out from one of these towns to the ocean or the earth far below. Very soon, we are going to introduce you to some of the perfect examples of the world’s most interesting city cliffs.
10 Incredible City Cliffs around the World:
10. Castellfollit de la Roca
Castellfollit de la Roca is located in the region of Catalonia in Spain. It is considered as one of the most beautiful villages in the world. It is built upon the basalt cliffs between two rivers. Most of the buildings are made in such a way that they seem to be hovering on the very edge of the cliff, which provides the illusion that they could tumble down at any moment.
The whole village is almost one-half of a square mile in size. During the Middle Ages the oldest parts of the village were built, which are made up of narrow streets and dark corners. Here the houses were made from volcanic rock.
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9. Rocamadour
Rocamadour is built on the rocky face above a gorge on the Alzou River in southwest France. Rocamadour is a tiny village whose buildings rise in stages up the side of a cliff. There is a group of massive buildings half-way up the city cliff which serves as churches and flights of steps descend from them to the lower town. The village dates back to the 12th century.
As a result of war and the French Revolution the village was almost deserted. Now it is popular again by both tourists and pilgrims who travel here to honor St. Amadour the village’s namesake. According to a legend, St. Amadour witnessed the deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome and afterward traveled to this location and became a hermit.
8. Bonifacio
Bonifacio is a city situated at the southern tip of the island of Corsica. The cliff-tops are at about 70 meters (230 feet) elevation along which some part of the city and its fortification extends through. You can see, the city cliffs have been undercut by the ocean. As a result the buildings, which have been built on the very lip of the precipice, appear to jut out over it. The appearance of the city from the sea is of a white city glinting in the sun and floating over the rough waters below.
7. Acapulco
In the 1950s a Mexican resort town came into prominence as a getaway for Hollywood stars and millionaires whose name is Acapulco. It still remains as a popular tourist destination especially among Mexicans and serve as a spring break destination among US college students.
The visit to Acapulco is not completed until you watch the cliff divers perform their impressive jumps into the shallow stream of water of dangerous tides that forms in the bottom part of La Quebrada. May be the present day divers are professionals, but they have been found doing it since the 1930s.
6. Mesa Verde
Located in southwestern Colorado, Mesa Verde is home to the famous cliff dwellings of the ancient Anasazi people. For a long time, this has been the most significant archeological preserve of Native American culture in the US. If we try to figure out the history, the Anasazi started to build houses during the 12th century in shallow caves and under rock that overhangs along the canyon walls. Some of these houses were so large that they contain 150 rooms. Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House are the most famous among them.
All of the Anasazi had left the Mesa Verde area by 1300, but the city remains almost perfectly preserved. No one knows the reason for their sudden departure from the city. There are several theories that range from crop failures due to droughts to an intrusion of foreign tribes from the North.
5. Bandiagara Escarpment
Located in the Dogon country of Mali, the Bandiagara Escarpment is a sandstone cliff that rises almost 500 meters (1,640 ft) from the lower sandy flats below. The Tellem people dwelled in this city a long time ago. To protect their dead from the flash floods that are common to the area, these people carved their caves into the cliffs of the escarpment. They built dozens of villages above the caves along the cliffs. The Dogon people drove out the Tellem in the 14th century. The Dogon are the inhabitants of this area to this day.
4. Ronda
Located in the province of Malaga in Spain, Ronda is famous for its city cliffs. Ronda is situated in the mountains at an elevation of 760 meters (2,500 ft). The Guadalevin River split the city in two causing it to sit on either side of the El Tajo Canyon formed by the river. You can cross from one side of Ronda to the other by the three bridges that precariously cross the canyon.
It is easily noticeable here that the city’s architecture is influenced by the Romans and Moors who once ruled the area. Again, perhaps you can considered Ronda as the birthplace of bullfighting and the oldest bullfighting ring of Spain is still there.
3. Al Hajjara
Al Hajjara, frequently spelt as Al Hajara, is situated west of the city of Manakhah. It is a historical cliff city in the Haraz Mountains of Yemen. This most beautiful city is also considered as one of the most striking and easily accessible mountain villages in Yemen. Using the quarried stone from the mountainside nearby, the village was literally built into the mountain.
Dating from the twelfth century, the fortified houses of Al Hajjara were made with massive blocks of unmortared stone and cluster to form an uninterrupted rampart. Like other cities in the mountains, a series of granaries and cisterns have made it possible for this village to withstand a long siege. We place this one as the third of the most incredible city cliffs around the world.
2. Positano
Located on the Amalfi Coast of Compania, Positano is a small town and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy. The city seems to be descending from a hillside leading to the coast. In the medieval times, the city grew and prospered. And in the mid-19th century, there were more than half of the population gone from the city. In the 20th century, with the help of author John Steinbeck who touted Positano’s beauty, the cliff went from being a poor fishing village to a very popular tourist destination.
1. Fira and Oia
The towns of Fira and Oia are located in Santorini. Santorini is a volcanic island in the Cyclades group of the Greek islands which is famous for its dramatic views, the white-washed houses, and stunning sunsets from the towns of Fira and Oia, in fact from its very own active volcano. This particular town Oia was built at the top of majestic cliffs overlooking a submerged volcano.
The capital city Fira is a marriage of Venetian and Cycladic architecture, whose white cobblestone streets bustle with shops, hotels, taverns and cafes, while clinging on the edge of the 400 meter (1,300 ft) high city cliffs. At the highest point of the island, just above Fira, is the quintessentially Santorininian town of Oia with its whitewashed walls sunk into the volcanic rock.
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