Hanging Monasteries...!!!!!

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Path to enlightenment: A stunning scene showing the Monastery of Roussanou in what must one of the most serene places in the world

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Balancing act: The monastery of Roussanou at the base of a stone tower in Meteora, Greece in a picture taken in 1985

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Nerve-wracking: A man is hoisted 250ft in a net, the only way to access the Monastery of St Barlaam (right), which also forms part of the Meteora complex in Greece


In Bhutan, the Taktshang Tiger's Nest monastery clings to a cliff 2,300ft above the Paro Valley floor.
According to legend, it takes its name from the 'second Buddha', Precious Guru Padmasambhava, who travelled to the site on a tiger.
Some visitors have reportedly fallen to their death on the way up after apparently losing their footing.
But the desire to build in such vertigo-inducing places isn't just confined to Asia. Turkey has its own, the monastery of Sumela, perched at an altitude of 3,900ft.

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Rich heritage: The ruins of the Sigiriya, or Lion's Rock, in the central Matale District of Sri Lanka, which was used as a monastery from around the 5th Century BC

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Magnificent: Visitors ascend the stairway to the ancient structure, which contains caves prepared by devotees of the Buddhist Sangha

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Steeped in history: The legs and paws of a lion still remain either side of the entrance to the fortress, but the head fell down years ago

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Idyllic: The rock, pictured here at dawn, upon which the temple and monastery were built is a 'magma plug'

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Easy does it: A visitor navigates the stone stairs leading up to the temple and fortress of Sigiriya, but this path is by no means the most perilous compared to those approaching other monasteries