#troglodytic

A church in a rock The interaction between man and stone is a complicated and profound one, including what are known as troglodytic dwellings, either built into a cliff safe such as La Roque St Christophe in France or Sentinil de las Bodegas in Spain (seehttp://tinyurl.com/p72c7hc andhttp://tinyurl.com/q67agm3) or the carved temples of Petra in Jordan (see http://tinyurl.com/mxenmsd). This lovely little rural church in Spain, dedicated to the Virgin of Carmen was carved out by hollowing a boulder to create a space within. Loz Image credit: Codigowiki

Troglodytic Structures - Rdum il- Biez - Selmun

I feel apart from the affairs of the world Not in an ivory tower, no But for lack of better imagery A small damp room; in two ways upsetting My eyes and ears skim current events Which are concurrently irrelevant To my woes and wails How I've tried to mesh with this world and failed For at a time I once considered In broken state with mind withered The taking of my life, away from this terrene Yet, I failed to spill enough of my blood Yet, it's no longer sorrow that wracks me I do not feel pitiful, do not feel sad Just hazy and hollow Away and unfollowed So I've been trying to find To find a place or person An activity or purpose To fill up my void It's to the point Where work feels good, sleep moreso They pass the time in the blink of an eye And I almost feel sedated But co-workers directly cast me out And my dreams refuse to be peaceful I awaken to this horrid emptiness And yield my life to it.

Setenil de las Bodegas  Troglodytic towns are built into and around geological features, often by building a facade over a cave or overhang. They are common in many rural parts of Europe, and some of them (including Sentenil) have been lived in since prehistoric times, though modern inhabitation has removed or covered many of the traces (written records start in Roman times, 2,000 years ago). La Roque St Christophe in France for example was inhabited from the days of Neanderthal man 55,000 years ago until 1588 (seehttp://tinyurl.com/p72c7hc). Excavation in nearby caves have proved inhabitation stretching back 25,000 years.  Located near Cadiz in Andalusia, and with some 3,000 inhabitants. The modern pueblo was built as a fortress by the Moors in the 11th century and has been artfully interweaved with the cliffs lining the river Trejo. The name comes from the Latin for seven and nothing, supposedly equating to the number of sieges the reconquista needed to invest the place. Bodega is a cellar or hold, in the case of Setenil, ones with a noble purpose: The storage of wine. Sadly the area was not replanted with vines after Phyloxera devastated every last vine in Europe in the late 19th Century.  Like St Christophe, the town in multilayered, built on terraces overlooking a narrow river gorge and roofed by overhangs, with further houses above the rocky roof. The effect is somewhat like a house/rock stacked sandwich.  Loz Image credit: Andrei Dimofte http://unusualplaces.org/setenil-de-las-bodegas/#more-1568 http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/setenil-de-las-bodegas