Hanging Monasteries...!!!!!

[aspundir]

Beautiful: Sigiriya is framed by symmetrical water gardens which extend to the foot of the rock. It is one of the eight World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka

It was created in 386AD during the reign of Emporer Theodosius I apparently after two priests discovered a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave on the mountain.
As with most of these great buildings, they aren't the easiest to access. In Greece, the Roussanou Monastery could only be accessed by baskets lifted by pulleys, until roads, steps and bridges were contructed in the 1920s.
It is one of six active monasteries in the Meteora complex, one the largest and most important developments of its kind, only behind Mount Athos.
The monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pinnacles near the Pinios.

[aspundir]

Panoramic: The monastery of St Stephen, part of the Meteora complex in Greece, was built in the middle of 16th and decorated in or around 1545

[aspundir]

A cut above: Rather than clinging to it, this temple was carved into the rock in the region of Cappadocia in Turkey. Frescoes can be seen around the entrance


Another stunning piece of architecture, which also places a rock at the heart of its construction, is Sigiriya, or Lion's Rock, in the central Matale District of Sri Lanka.
Built on a 'magma plug', the sacred city contains the ruins of the original temple, which dates back to 500AD.
The legs and paws of a lion still remain either side of the entrance, but the head fell down years ago. It is one of the eight World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka.

[aspundir]

Up on high: The Holy Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas Anapausas in Meteora, Greece, which was built in the 16th Century and decorated by the Cretan painter Theophanis Strelitzas in 1527