世界で最も危険な家。危険です。
世界で最も危険な家。危険です。
Transcript
00:00safety from the outside world.
00:02And in all that time, the main requirements haven't changed all that much.
00:05The best places to live are near supplies and services,
00:09but for a variety of reasons, some people choose to go against the grain.
00:13Prepare yourself for precarious structures
00:16and homes in the most inhospitable places imaginable,
00:19as we take a look at the top 15 riskiest house locations.
00:24Number 15. Rock in a river.
00:27In the middle of the Drina River, which flows near to the town of Bajnabasca in Serbia,
00:32there's a small cabin built upon a rocky outcrop that's in such a risky location
00:36that it's had to be rebuilt at least seven times.
00:39The first structure was put there in the 1960s
00:41when a group of swimmers who regularly visited the stretch of the river wanted shelter.
00:45They used boats and kayaks to transport light materials to the rock,
00:49and it soon became a popular place for the youth of the area to meet up.
00:53Rising river levels at certain times of the year soon showed how precarious a place this was for a building, though,
00:59and it would regularly sweep all the pieces away.
01:02Each time it was destroyed, the hut was rebuilt with even stronger materials
01:06to the point where the river's water could carry it away in one single piece,
01:10which meant on several occasions people were able to catch it and drag it back up the river to the rock.
01:15In 1999, it was destroyed for a fifth time and rebuilt a few years later,
01:19but again it was washed away, and in 2011 the decision was made to finally make a design that incorporated concrete pillars.
01:27This new hut is still standing, but based on past experiences,
01:30it's surely only a matter of time until the river reclaims the rock once more.
01:39Communities have for a long time often built their homes near to volcanoes
01:43because the material that's deposited during an eruption causes the land to be extremely fertile for growing crops.
01:49There is an ever-present danger, though, especially if the volcanoes are still active,
01:53and that's a daily risk faced by around 200,000 residents of the island of Java.
01:58They live around Mount Merapi, which is a stratovolcano that's the most active in Indonesia.
02:03It's regularly erupted since the 16th century, with more than 60 events in the past 500 years.
02:09It's not unusual to see smoke emerging from the mountaintop,
02:12and there are regular alerts, which causes the evacuation of thousands of people,
02:16just in case the volcano does indeed release molten lava and dangerous fumes.
02:20The last significant eruption to take place was in March of 2021,
02:24and fortunately on this occasion, the injuries were kept to a minimum.
02:27The government is now so concerned about the potential loss of life
02:30that they've designated a region around the volcano where it's illegal to live.
02:34But this is far from comprehensive, and many people still have homes within the potential impact zone.
02:44The Spanish city of Cuenca has been inhabited since at least the times of the Romans,
02:48and it's on a cliff face above a river valley that used to be an important strategic position.
02:53Of course, there's far less risk of having to defend against marauding barbarians in current times,
02:58but the city still has around 50,000 residents, some of whom live in the famous hanging houses.
03:04Built above a rock on the cliff face above the Hueca River Gorge,
03:07structures like these were once commonplace in the region,
03:10with the first ones believed to have been built in the 15th century.
03:13Using traditional construction techniques, they are made completely of wood
03:17that's secured to the cliff with a series of ropes and hooks,
03:20and have been used as homes, government buildings, and even as restaurants.
03:24Quite why this became popular isn't entirely clear,
03:28but it's thought that they were the result of a lack of space on the hilltop,
03:32the only way that poor members of society could afford a home near to the rest of the city.
03:36Now, they're one of the most popular tourist sites in the area,
03:39with millions of photos taken each year,
03:41but you surely have to have a head for heights and be willing to take a risk if you ever set foot inside one.
03:51The Scottish Highlands are regularly subjected to grueling weather conditions
03:55that blanket the countryside in snow,
03:57or soak it so thoroughly that it's impossible to travel anywhere.
04:01So historically, the only people that would live in extremely remote regions
04:05were those that needed to in order to tend to their land.
04:08The Llangraff Hut is a perfect example of this,
04:10and was first built a few hundred years ago in the valley of the River Kupal.
04:14It was originally a crofting home,
04:16where the family that lived there would produce enough food to support themselves,
04:19and earn a small wage by making the day-to-day long trip to the nearest town to sell it.
04:24Made from thick stone to help withstand the powerful winds,
04:27it's now owned and maintained by the Scottish Mountaineering Club,
04:30and it's used as a resting point for climbers venturing deeper into the mountains.
04:34Still featuring the Malachulish slate roof that was installed when it was built,
04:38life there would have been incredibly tough,
04:40without any support from anyone else.
04:43Even today, it's basic living,
04:44with basic electrical, heating, and cooking appliances that rely on solar power,
04:48which isn't exactly in plentiful supply with the regular storms that pass through.
04:53Number 11. A Remote Island
04:56Elladay is an island that's just to the south of Iceland,
04:59and is part of the Vestmannaeyjar Archipelago,
05:02along with 17 other small outcrops.
05:04Covering an area of around 110 acres,
05:06there's no permanent community there, or anywhere close,
05:09and the only regular wildlife is a large colony of puffins.
05:13Because of its position, the island is, however,
05:15surrounded by vast quantities of aquatic life,
05:18and it used to be the perfect place for fishermen, whalers, and hunters
05:21to base themselves during parts of the year,
05:24before returning to the mainland to sell what they had caught.
05:27Because of this, a small house was built on the island,
05:29in what surely is one of the most remote homes on Earth.
05:33Subjected to freezing temperatures and cut off from the outside world
05:36for at least three or four months a year,
05:38not only would residents have to be happy with the extreme isolation,
05:41but if there were any emergencies,
05:43they'd have no choice but to try to deal with it themselves.
05:46Surprisingly, there was a rumor that Icelandic singer Bjork now owns the building,
05:50but she's publicly denied all knowledge of this,
05:52and the current owners are believed to be a hunting organization.
05:55It's not clear how often someone's staying there,
05:58but it's hardly the most appealing lodge you could choose.
06:05In the country of Georgia, close to the town of Tjiatura,
06:08there's a naturally formed limestone monolith that's known as the Katschki Pillar.
06:13Rising around 130 feet, or about 40 meters above the ground,
06:16there's a small platform at the top,
06:18and evidence has been found that suggests
06:20religious buildings have been present there for centuries.
06:23The current church that's there was built in the 1990s,
06:26with a restoration in 2009,
06:28and it's home to just one person,
06:30a monk of the Orthodox Church called Maksim Kavtaradze,
06:33who was once responsible for restoring the building.
06:36He only descends the pillar twice a week for supplies,
06:39and spends the rest of his time in complete isolation.
06:41Researchers occasionally allowed to take a look at the ruins on the pillar,
06:45which include a medieval crypt, an ancient wine cellar,
06:48and the mysterious remains of other structures.
06:50When they do visit, they take safety precautions,
06:52like using harnesses and helmets,
06:54something that the resident monk feels is unnecessary.
06:57With so little space at the top,
06:59you're less than a stone's throw away from falling off at all times,
07:02which surely must make it one of the riskiest places you could ever think of living.
07:09The Maldives is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world,
07:13particularly for those looking for rest and relaxation,
07:16or who are on their honeymoon.
07:18And one of the most appealing types of rooms to stay in
07:20are those that are built on stilts and suspended over the perfectly calm ocean.
07:25This building technique is mainly used to attract the visitors,
07:28but some locals live in homes on stilts.
07:31And while this may not at first seem like too risky a place to live,
07:35the long-term prospects of the entire country aren't exactly looking promising.
07:39The islands are only just slightly above sea level,
07:42and as the waters are rising worldwide due to climate change,
07:45it may not be long until they're fully submerged.
07:48Current estimates that the average sea level will have increased by 23 inches by the end of the century,
07:53would be more than enough to cover the 200 islands that make up the Maldives.
07:57Your home on stilts may not be completely swallowed by the ocean,
08:01but with no land masses for hundreds of miles in any direction,
08:04it may not be the most practical of places to live.
08:13Located against a cliffside in the Paro Valley of Bhutan,
08:16Paro Taktsang is one of the most precarious buildings you'll see anywhere in the world.
08:21Also known as the Tiger's Nest,
08:23it's a Buddhist monastery that was first built in the mid-17th century.
08:27Consisting of four main temples and residential buildings,
08:30the structure is actually built on a series of ledges,
08:32and into the network of caves that form naturally in the cliff face.
08:36Despite the seemingly sturdy foundations,
08:38it's at an altitude of about 10,240 feet,
08:41and there's a 3,000-foot vertical drop in front of it,
08:45to the base of the Paro Valley.
08:47It seems so stuck onto the ledge that it's often said to cling on to the mountainside like a gecko,
08:53and is amazingly home to a permanent group of monks.
08:56The region is a highly spiritual place,
08:58and is where Guru Padmasambhava meditated and practiced with his students in the caves,
09:03and still to this day, it's the most important of all the 13 so-called Tiger Lair Caves that they visited.
09:09It's definitely a good thing that they practice a calm and peaceful existence,
09:13because if you make just one wrong move at any point on the approach to the monastery,
09:17or when you're there, you'd almost certainly fall off.
09:24As construction techniques have developed,
09:26it's become possible to build taller and taller structures,
09:29but there's a reason why architects have to be qualified,
09:32and construction crews have to meticulously follow the plans,
09:36because it only takes a small mistake to completely jeopardize the stability of a building.
09:40The Sutyagin House is proof of this,
09:43and from the moment the first stages were built, it looks like a death trap.
09:47It was the home of Nikolai Sutyagin,
09:49a notorious Russian crime lord who used his ill-gotten gains to buy the materials needed to build a house in Russia.
09:55Made entirely from wood, it was just two stories tall,
09:58but he kept adding more and more, until it had a total of 13 floors.
10:03By this time, it was 144 feet tall, and bearing in mind he had no prior knowledge of construction,
10:08there were serious concerns about its safety,
10:11not just for those living inside, but for anyone passing by.
10:14It took 15 years to complete,
10:16but fell into a state of disrepair after Sutyagin was sent to prison,
10:19and was unable to keep up the required maintenance.
10:22By 2008, it had been declared a fire hazard,
10:25and despite local authorities overseeing the majority of the structure being demolished,
10:29so it was only four stories tall,
10:31it was eventually destroyed when it caught fire in 2012.
10:38Throughout history, people have often set up communities around lakes.
10:42They are a great source of water, and more easily defendable,
10:45and usually offer stunning views.
10:47But there's one place where the shoreside residents are taking an almighty risk with their lives.
10:52Lake Kivu, which is on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
10:57It's regarded as one of the great African lakes.
11:00At 55 miles long and 30 miles wide,
11:03it has for a long time provided the local population,
11:06and supported a thriving fishing industry.
11:08The lake, however, is above a site of volcanic activity,
11:11and has been found to contain a huge quantity of methane.
11:14Studies around the shoreline have found that it appears as if a localized mass extinction
11:19has occurred every 1,000 years or so,
11:21which is believed to be the result of what's known as an outgassing event,
11:25whereby odorless and colorless gas is released from the lake,
11:28and deprives humans and animals of oxygen.
11:31The problem with lakes like this is that it's virtually impossible to predict when it might happen again,
11:36and it could be as long as several hundred years, or as soon as in the next few hours.
11:41For the moment, attempts are being made to reduce the risk,
11:43with methane extraction platforms taking the gas away from the lake bed.
11:47But the sheer volume that's present means that this is barely scratching the surface,
11:51and it's most likely that the lake will release its methane within our lifetimes.
11:55And for anyone that's unfortunate enough to be nearby when it happens,
11:58it'll almost certainly be fatal.
12:04Greece is home to a rich and vibrant cultural history,
12:07as well as vast regions of geographical beauty,
12:10and these two elements combine in the center of the country around the Pindos Mountains.
12:15It's there that you'll find a series of naturally formed sandstone pillars known as the Meteora,
12:20a name that means lofty and elevated.
12:22Formed over thousands of years, the pillars have vertical edges and small platforms at the top,
12:27and it's there that members of the Eastern Orthodox Church built a series of monasteries.
12:32During the 16th century, there were as many as 24 of the structures in the region,
12:36and while this number has now dropped to six,
12:38the ones that remain are some of the most precarious and risky structures you could visit.
12:42It's not just their position on top of the pillars,
12:45but the cut steps, rickety bridges, and the walkways that you need to traverse to get to them in the first place.
12:51And for a long time, it was purposefully difficult,
12:53so those who made it to the top had proven themselves to God.
12:56Now, things are a bit easier to allow visitors and tourists to access the monasteries,
13:01but there are still plenty of people who turn back because of the frightening heights that are involved.
13:06Two of the monasteries are inhabited by nuns, while the other four are home to the monks,
13:10and in total, the Meteora has a permanent population of 56 people.
13:15Number 3. A Tiny Island
13:18Also known as Hub Island, the appropriately named Just Room Enough Island
13:23is part of the Thousand Islands chain in New York,
13:26and holds the record for being the smallest inhabited island in the world.
13:30Covering an area of just 3,300 square feet, it was originally bought by the Sizeland family in the 1950s,
13:36and they built a house on it to act as a getaway from the pressures of city life.
13:40Today, the house is still very much the same as it was then,
13:43with a small beach, a tree, and a few other plants that have been put there by owners over the years.
13:48On the face of it, it's an ideal escape, but there's a very real and present risk with staying in a place like this.
13:54The first, of course, is the chance that the water levels will rise and flood the property,
13:59and while that's yet to happen, despite the house being there for almost 70 years,
14:03it's likely that it will one day flood.
14:05The other risk of living there is the lack of access.
14:08The only way to reach it is by boat, and even from the shore of the mainland,
14:11it's a significant distance to emergency services or stores,
14:15so if any accidents happen on the island, there's very little support available.
14:23Airbnb has given homeowners the chance to share their properties with the world,
14:27and while most that are available are in convenient places with all the modern luxuries you'd expect,
14:32there are some that are in more unusual places.
14:36One of the ones that have garnered the most attention in recent years is called the Phoenix House,
14:40which just so happens to be at the base of the Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island.
14:45As a volcanically active region, Kilauea continuously releases lava,
14:50and this house is so close to the flow that it has a stunning view of steam that's produced as the molten rock reaches the ocean.
14:57Even though it's around four miles away from actual lava,
15:00there's always the possibility that there will be new flows that develop, or a full eruption,
15:05and anyone that's in the house at the time wouldn't stand a chance of escaping.
15:09If you think the risk is worth it, however, then the Phoenix House has a modern design, and is the ideal retreat.
15:15It isn't connected to the grid, and there's no internet access,
15:18but it does provide electricity from solar panels, and water's provided from the rainwater collector.
15:23It's a back-to-basics life in luxurious surroundings,
15:27but you'd best keep an eye on the latest advice from the USGS,
15:30just in case the volcano's being more active than usual.
15:35Number 1. Minchin County
15:37The world is continually changing, and always has gone through various geological processes.
15:43Ice sheets carve new canyons and valleys, oceans erode the shorelines, and volcanoes can even create new landmasses.
15:50But one of the more unusual and potentially life-altering processes is the expansion of a desert.
15:57It's something that happens because of changes in long-term weather conditions,
16:01and can see a once-fertile place covered in sand and heat in just a matter of years.
16:05In fact, the largest deserts on Earth used to be covered in a fertile jungle,
16:09and if you lived in the wrong place, you could well find your home is about to suffer the same fate.
16:14That's exactly what residents in Minchin County in China are facing.
16:18It's a place that's been inhabited for hundreds of years, thanks to the Xi'an River that passes through the valley.
16:24But human activity has begun to severely alter conditions.
16:27A huge amount of irrigation upstream now means that very little water actually makes it as far down the river as used to be the case,
16:34and this is causing the region to dry up.
16:36Groundwater levels have severely depleted, and the nearby desert is beginning to approach,
16:41leaving the more than 200,000 residents no option but to try to install devices to hinder its progress.
16:47Not only is it likely to fully become a desert within a matter of decades,
16:51which will result in all the homes having to be abandoned,
16:53but is now the main source of sandstorms in the whole of China,
16:57which are responsible for a huge amount of damage and disruption further afield.
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