This City Has Buildings Made Of Diamond And Is Built In A 15 Million Year Old Meteorite Crater

Mostly meteorite strikes on Earth are used to frighten people of the impending doom that can strike anytime, but there is a city in Germany that does not really care about all that.  Rather than taking pictures of the place and leaving it as a study case for the generations to come, people in Bavarian Nordlingen, Germany have made this 15 million-year-old meteorite crater as their humble abode.

Nordlingen or Nördlinger Ries is situated in the heart of Europe, and it is one of the most fascinating stops on the Romantic Road running along many Bavarian cities. The city is also quite popular among the tourists since it is based on medieval time and has been entirely built within a meteorite created crater.

 

According to the scientists, when the meteorite hit the place 15 million years ago, it also created a lot of diamonds around in the suevite stones. These diamonds were then used to construct the buildings that stand today, making this a civilisation made carved out of diamonds. The With a medieval soul, Bavarian architecture, a unique blend of great geological heritage, this is a beautiful spot to visit.

The suevite stone, shown in the picture above is very rare and always is created by impact with a meteorite. It also includes melted materials as like glass, crystal, lithic fragments and sometimes even diamonds. So, besides being a unique city in itself, Nordlingen is also a favourite for geologists, biologist, and scientists.

It has been proved that the local houses, the church as well as the Daniel Tower standing in the centre of the city have been made by diamonds. The city walls were built using the suevite stone as well, which makes the city literally surrounded by diamonds. As mentioned before, the suevite stone is very rare, and can only be found in a few places around the world like Sudbury Basin, Popigai crater, Chicxulub crater, Kara crater and the Azuara impact structure.

Nordlingen has been the centre of attention of scientists, astronauts, archaeologists, biologists, historians and tourists alike. You can also find detailed information about NASA’s researchers who worked there, the biological heritage of the city being research on by the scientists and joint seminars on the crater at the Rieskrater Museum in the city. The city offers walking tours on the site of the National Geopark Ries, which are quite a sight.

The city has many other attractions, like the great Bavarian beer, as well as cultural festivals like CittaSlow Festival, Stabenfest, Nördlinger Mess and Scharlachrennen.

Here’s a video giving a brief tour of this amazing city:

Have you ever visited the city, or are planning to do so in the near future? Let us know in the comments’ section below!