Posted on 6/06/2012 03:59:00 PM
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| This
gravity-defying hanging monastery clings to the side of Mt Huashan in
China and is only accessible via steep and dangerous paths |
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| 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 |
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| 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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| Visitors ascend the stairway to the ancient structure, which contains caves prepared by devotees of the Buddhist Sangha |
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| 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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| 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 |
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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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| The Taktshang Tiger's Nest monastery clings to a cliff 2,300ft above the Paro Valley floor in Bhutan at such a height it looks down on the clouds |
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| According to legend, the Tiger's Nest takes its name from the 'second Buddha', Precious Guru Padmasambhava, who travelled to the site on a tiger |
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| Between a rock and a hard place: The Holy Trinity is part of the Meteora - which translates as 'suspended in the air' - complex of monasteries in Greece, one of the largest collections of such buildings in the country | | | |
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| 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 |
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| Visitors survey the incredible buildings of the Sumela monastery which was built, on southern shore of the Black Sea, during the reign of Emporer Theodosius I |
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| 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 |
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| The monasteries of Agios Nikolaos Anapafsas (left) and Agia Roussanou (right) in Greece, which form part of the Meteora complex of precariously placed buildings |
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| Head for heights: French mountain climber Catherine Destivelle during her ascension of the Rocher Saint Esprit, in the Meteora, with the Monastery of Roussanou located on a parallel summit (right) |
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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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| 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 |
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| 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 |
via dailymail.co.uk
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