Incredible City Cliffs Around the World

There are some amazing works of architecture in our world. Not just single beautiful buildings but also whole towns built on top of tall cliffs or carved into the sides of mountains. When you see a place like this for the first time, it can take your breath away.

You could get the same thrill by standing in one of these places and looking out at the ocean or the ground far below. Here are some of the most interesting city hills around the world.

List of Incredible City Cliffs around the World:

Castellfollit de la Roca

People say that Castellfollit de la Roca is one of the most beautiful villages in Spain’s Catalonia area. Between two rivers, it is built on basalt rocks. Most of the buildings look like they are perched right on the edge of the cliff, giving the impression that they could fall at any time.

The size of the whole town is less than half a square mile. The narrow streets and dark areas of the village’s oldest parts were built in the Middle Ages. Volcanic rock is used to build the homes here.

Rocamadour

In southwest France, Rocamadour is a small town built on a rock face above a gorge on the Alzou River. Step by step, Rocamadour’s houses climb up the side of a cliff. Steps lead up from the lower town to the churches, which are a group of big buildings in the middle of the city cliff.

Because of war and the French Revolution, almost no one lived in the town, which was built in the 12th century. Tourists and pilgrims who come to honor St. Amadour, the village’s namesake, make it famous again today. A tale says that St. Amadour was in Rome when Sts. Peter and Paul died. After that, he moved to this area and lived as a hermit.

Bonifacio

The city of Bonifacio is on the southernmost point of the island of Corsica. The city and its defenses run for a long way along the tops of the cliffs, which are about 70 meters (230 feet) high.

The ocean has worn away at the city’s rocks, making it look like the buildings that have been built right on the edge of the cliff hanging over it. From the water, it looks like a white city shining in the sun and hanging over the rough seas below.

Acapulco

Acapulco is the first resort town in Mexico. It became famous in the 1950s as a place for Hollywood stars and rich people to go on vacation. Still, it is a popular place for tourists, especially Mexicans and college students from the United States on spring break.

When you go to Acapulco, you have to watch the cliff divers jump into the shallow stream of dangerous waves at the bottom of La Quebrada. It’s an amazing thing to see. Since the 1930s, divers have been doing this, but now they do it as a job.

Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde is in the southwest corner of Colorado. It is where the old Anasazi people built their famous cliff dwellings. It might be the most important Native American archaeological site in the United States. The Anasazi started making homes in shallow caves and under rock overhangs along the canyon walls in the 12th century. Some of these homes were so big that they had up to 150 rooms.

Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House are two of the best-known. By 1300, all of the Anasazi had left the area around Mesa Verde, but almost all of the ruins were still there. The reason why they left so quickly is still a mystery. Some people think that crop failures were caused by droughts, while others think that groups from the North moved into the area.

Bandiagara Escarpment

The Bandiagara Escarpment is a sandstone cliff in the Dogon country of Mali that rises almost 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the lower sandy flats below. On these rocks, the Tellem people used caves as homes in the past.

These people cut their caves into the cliffs of the escarpment so that their dead could be buried high above the flash floods that happen often in the area. They built a lot of towns along the cliffs above the caves. The Dogon moved the Tellem out of this area in the 14th century, and they still live there today.

Ronda

The city of Ronda is in Spain. It is in the province of Malaga, which is known for its city hills. It is 760 meters (2,500 feet) above sea level and in the mountains. The Guadalevin River, which runs through Ronda, cuts the city in half. This means that each half of the city is on one side of the El Tajo Canyon, which the river formed. You can get from one side of Ronda to the other by crossing the canyon on one of three dangerous bridges.

The Romans and Moors, who used to rule the area, left their mark on the city’s buildings. Ronda is known as the place where bullfighting began, and it still has Spain’s oldest bullfighting ring.

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Al Hajjara

Al Hajjara, which is sometimes spelled Al Hajara, is an old rock city in the Haraz Mountains west of the city of Manakhah in Yemen. It is sometimes written as Al Hajara. It is one of Yemen’s most beautiful and easy-to-reach mountain towns. The town was built right into the mountain, using stones that were taken from the nearby mountain.

Al Hajjara has been around since the 1100s. Its protected homes are made of big blocks of uncut stone that are grouped to make a continuous wall. This mountain town, like others in the area, was able to survive a long siege because it had several granaries and water tanks.

 Positano

Positano is a small town on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. It is one of the most popular places for tourists to visit in all of Italy. The city looks like it is spread out from the top to the bottom of a hill that leads to the coast.

Even though the city grew and did well in the Middle Ages, by the middle of the 19th century, more than half of its people had left. Positano went from being a poor fishing village to a very famous tourist spot with the help of the writer John Steinbeck, who wrote about how beautiful the town was.

Fira and Oia

Santorini is a Greek island that is part of the Cyclades group. It is a volcanic island. It is known for its dramatic views, beautiful sunsets from the towns of Fira and Oia, whitewashed houses, and its active volcano. Oia was built on top of beautiful rocks that looked out over a volcano that was underwater.

The building of the capital, Fira, is a mix of Venetian and Cycladic styles. The white cobblestone streets are full of shops, tavernas, hotels, and cafes, and they hang off the edge of the 400-meter (1,300-foot) high city cliffs. Just above Fira, on the island’s highest point, is the town of Oia, which is very typical of Santorini because its yellow walls are built into the volcanic rock.

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