Good luck finding parking.

March 2, 2016 6:15 PM

Atlas Obscura brings us a photo-essay of seven places in Europe where humans exhibit an adventurous spirit, ingenuity, and engineering chops.
posted by cynical pinnacle (17 comments total)

This is a good time to post photos of Saint Cirq Lapopie, which is absolutely beautiful and how the heck did they get those up there.
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 6:40 PM on March 2, 2016 [2 favorites]

I suspect that ancient efforts to build in gravitationally challenging locations was less "adventurous spirit" and more, inspired self preservation.
posted by sammyo at 6:58 PM on March 2, 2016 [3 favorites]

"You got a permit for that?"
posted by klanawa at 7:48 PM on March 2, 2016 [3 favorites]

The residents of Pacifica, CA say to enjoy the view while it lasts.
posted by GuyZero at 7:53 PM on March 2, 2016 [4 favorites]

Perhaps humans are not all bad after all.
posted by grobstein at 7:54 PM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm surprised they didn't include the monasteries at Meteora.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:10 PM on March 2, 2016

I'm surprised they didn't include the monasteries at Meteora.

It's not For Your Eyes Only.
posted by GuyZero at 9:40 PM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

These are awesome. A personal favorite is Bonifacio, Corsica
posted by deadbilly at 9:47 PM on March 2, 2016

I suspect that ancient efforts to build in gravitationally challenging locations was less "adventurous spirit" and more, inspired self preservation.

Yup, Only one way into town, and it's a gauntlet of murder-peasants one must navigate, and it gets worse inside, and there's not a lot to loot at the end of it. Let's skip the kill-trap built over a cliff over the ocean, and go bother something less dangerous, like the Habsburg army.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:33 AM on March 3, 2016 [8 favorites]

Now the parents in those towns were threatening their kids when they said, "Go play in the backyard!"
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:13 AM on March 3, 2016

As a superannuated somnambulist, those are all places I'd love to see and then leave well before nightfall.
posted by sonascope at 6:35 AM on March 3, 2016 [2 favorites]

Missing Monsanto, Portugal.
posted by huguini at 7:47 AM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

Can I get a room with a view?
posted by BlueHorse at 8:15 AM on March 3, 2016

What amazing photos—thanks for the post! A quibble regarding Castellfollit de la Roca:

This medieval Spanish village looks like something straight out of Tolkien. Originally settled around a thousand years ago, the village sits on a tall, thin strip of volcanic rock with a 160-foot on either side. The rivers Fluvià and Toronell flow at the bottom of each respective cliff but at the top, rows of historic Spanish houses have been built right up to the edges, looking like they might crowd each other right off.

That's a medieval Catalan village with historic Catalan houses, thank you very much; the very names Castellfollit, Fluvià, and Toronell scream "not Spanish!"
posted by languagehat at 8:27 AM on March 3, 2016 [2 favorites]

Is it just me, or do I see a cable dish in the penultimate picture? I wonder how good their reception is.
posted by lineofsight at 1:39 PM on March 3, 2016

rivers Fluvià

That isn't the most creative river name I have ever seen.

The photos are great, I love looking at places like that, though the construction process must have been incredibly labor intensive (and as such an indication of how threatened people must have felt to have made that kind of investment in such impractical places).
posted by Dip Flash at 5:24 PM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

And then there's
Ronda, Spain
posted by etaoin at 3:37 PM on March 26, 2016