In the Seventh Century, monks built a monastery on the top of a natural stone pillar outside of Chiatura, Georgia. It was used by the Stylites — Christian ascetics who lived on top of pillars to express their devotion. That sect is now extinct, but the monastery is still there. Visitors get to the top by climbing a 130 foot ladder.
A Georgian monk has been living in it for nearly 20 years now and the creaky ladder used to reach the church is called the stairway to heaven.
The church is estimated to have been built in between the 6th and 8th centuries and it is believed to actually have pagan roots, as a symbol of fertility to some forgotten god.
