Sometimes I get leads from twitter. Liz Devlin @FLUXBoston earned a hat tip for this one.
Andrea Magrath writes at MailOnline about Monsanto, a “medieval Portugal village build in and around gigantic 200-tonne [ton] boulders. …
“Living beneath a roof that weighs more than the average cruise ship may make some people a little nervous. But it is commonplace for the villagers of Monsanto in Portugal, who adapted their homes around the environment, filled with gigantic granite boulders.
“In the mountaintop village, homes are sandwiched between, under and even in the 200-tonne rocks. The enormous boulders have been utilised as walls, floors, and most astoundingly, as roofs for houses that date back to the 16th century. …
“Located in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, in eastern Portugal near the Spanish border, Monsanto sits at 2,486 feet above sea level and has spectacular views. Donkey is the preferred form of transport for Monsanto’s 800 residents, who have managed to maintain the village’s medieval character.”
For some great pictures of life amid boulders, click here. One photo really looks like a hobbit home.
Photo: Xalima Muriel/Media Drum World
Monsanto, Portugal, villagers have formed their homes around the existing boulders, rather than attempt to move them.
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