The human desire to build places for worship has often resulted in some of the most breathtaking architectural masterpieces in existence. From historic sites like the Pyramids of Giza or the Parthenon to modern marvels like the Lotus Temple in New Delhi or the Jubilee Synagogue in Prague, humanity has shown the best version of itself when it comes to creating spaces to honor, pray to, and worship a higher power.While there are plenty of examples of stunning religious architecture that prove this, few fully reimagine the limits of human innovation quite like the places of worship that are built directly into nature. Set in caves, perching on cliffs, or carved into basalt, these spiritual sites span many faiths and locations. From a temple in Datong, China, that appears to defy gravity to a hand-hewn stone church in Ethiopia, AD has scoured the globe for the 24 most inspiring, extraordinary houses of worship built into the natural world.Photo: Education Images/Getty Images1/24Church of Apostle Andrew (Priozerskiy rayon, Russia)Just two hours north of St. Petersburg, you'll find a small stone island in Lake Vuoksa holding the Church of Apostle Andrew. Designed by Andrei Rotinov, the Russian Orthodox Church doesnt have any scheduled masses, though it can be booked for weddings and baptisms. Accessible via a bridge, the church is named for the patron saint of fishermen.Photo: 500px/Getty Images2/24Sanctuary of Madonna della Corona (Spiazzi, Italy)If youre taking a trip around Verona, dont miss the opportunity to visit the Sanctuary of Madonna della Corona nestled in the Baldo rocks above the Adige River. Built in 1530, the site is a popular pilgrimage location now open year-round for those who would like to meditate or pray in quiet. While it may look like the structure is dangling off the mountainside, it actually sits on a rock shelf.Photo: RB/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images3/24Chapel of the Holy Cross (Sedona, Arizona)This church built into the red rocks of Sedona was commissioned by a local sculptor and rancher, Marguerite Brunswig Staude. Staude, inspired by the newly-constructed Empire State Building, originally worked with Lloyd Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright, to construct the temple in Budapest. The outbreak of World War II stopped the project, and Staude decided to construct the church in her hometown, where the church was designed by August K. Strotz.Photo: Alejandro Cock-Pelez/Getty Images4/24Las Lajas Shrine (Ipiales, Nario, Colombia)This Gothic-style church in Colombia is a popular pilgrimage site for Christians in South America because its built at the location where an apparition of the Virgin Mary supposedly appeared. According to the tale, a mother and her daughter, who was deaf, were caught in a storm in the area and sought shelter beneath nearby slabs of stone sticking out from the rocky hillside. While there, the daughter said Jesuss mother was calling her, and she pointed toward a silhouette illuminated by lightning above one of the slabs. The church was built at the site between 1916 and 1949, and its name, Las Lajas, translates in English to the slabs.Photo: GABITUL/Getty Images5/24Paro Taktsang (Paro Valley, Bhutan)This cliffside temple in Bhutan is built around a cave where Guru Padmasambhava (or Guru Rinpoche) meditated and taught Vajrayana, a form of Tantric Buddhism. Starting in the 11th century, many Tibetan saints came to worship at the site, which is located 3,000feet above the Paro Valley.Photo: Boris Streubel/FIFA/Getty Images6/24Ad Deir (Petra, Jordan)This ancient temple in Petra, Jordan, stands at 154feet tall and is carved directly into the red sandstone. The monastery was built, like the rest of the ancient city, by the Nabataeans in the second century. Its been theorized that the building was repurposed as a church during the Byzantine empire.Photo: NurPhoto/Getty Images7/24Churches of Greme (Nevehir Province, Turkey)These churches in Greme were the direct result of the eruption of Mount Erciyes over two million years ago. The volcanos ash and lava formed soft rocks, and the residents soon realized these could be carved out fairly easily to form churches, monasteries, and houses. Inside, many of the churches still display restored frescoes.Photo: ullstein bild/Getty Images8/24Felsenkirche (Idar-Oberstein, Germany)Built between 1482 and 1484, Felsenkirche, which translates to rock church in English, is a Protestant parish built into the side of a rocky cliff in Idar-Oberstein. Legend has it that a prince constructed the church to atone for his younger brothers death. The two brothers supposedly fell in love with the same woman, who ultimately chose the younger of the two. When the older found out, he threw his sibling off the mountain, later building the church where his brother died. However, there is no factual evidence that this ever occurred.Photo: Athanasios Gioumpasis/Getty Images9/24Kipina Monastery (Kalarrytes, Greece)If you look too quickly, you might miss Kipina Monastery. Tucked into the side of the Tzoumerka Mountains above the Kalarytikos River, the structure, which dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was built in the 13th century by a group of monks who had fled the nearby Vyliza Monastery after a disagreement. The monastery is built around a cave using the same stones as the ones from the mountain, making it hard to notice from the ground.Photo: Michael Hicks/Getty Images10/24The Ministers Treehouse (Crossville, Tennessee)The Ministers Treehouse, also known as Horace Burgesss Treehouse, was a huge treehouse built 100 feet in the air across seven trees in Crossville, Tennessee. The structure had multiple rooms, including a chapel with a basketball hoop, before it mysteriously burned down in October of 2019. Burgess, the builder, said God came to him in a vision and told him to build the massive structure. For many years, Burgess, who was also an ordained minister, led services in the property.Photo: Andia/Getty Images11/24Chapel of Saint-Michel dAiguilhe (Aiguilhe, France)Itll take climbing 268 rock-carved steps to reach this church that sits atop a 279-foot volcanic plug. Built in 969, the chapel is dedicated to the archangel Michael, who is the patron saint of mountaintops and high places.Photo: J. Countess/Getty Images12/24Church of St. George (Lalibela, Ethiopia)The Church of St. George is the most famous of the 11 rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia. Made solely from volcanic tuff, the structure was carved downwards and is dated to the late 12th or early 13th century. It is believed to be commissioned by King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, who wanted to recreate Jerusalem.Photo: Dean Conger/Getty Images13/24The Hanging Temple (Datong, China)This temple near Datong, China, is notable for two reasons: It hangs off the side of a precipice near Mount Heng in Chinas Shanxi Province; and its the only temple that represents the three traditional Chinese philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The structure is supported by oak crossbeams that are chiseled into the mountainside. It holds 40 halls and pavilions, and, according to the legend, its construction was started by just one monk, Liaoran, in A.D. 491.Photo: Phil Clarke Hill/Getty Images14/24Salt Cathedral of Zipaquir (Bogot, Colombia)Built 660feet underground within the tunnels of a salt mine, this Roman Catholic church welcomes as many as 3,000 visitors each Sunday. The chapel includes three sections which represent the birth, life, and death of Jesus.Photo: John S Lander/Getty Images15/24Marble Mountains (Da Nang, Vietnam)The Marble Mountains in Vietnam are a collection of five limestone and marble hills that each represent one of five elements: earth, fire, water, wood, and metal. Inside, the mountains hold several Buddhist and Hindu grottoes, sanctuaries, and temples.Photo: Andia/Getty Images16/24Chapel of St. Gildas (Brittany, France)Along the banks of the Blavet River in Brittany, France, youll find the Chapel of St. Gildas built directly underneath a large granite outcrop. The story goes that St. Gildas, a prominent Irish monk, lived with St. Bieuzy in a cave at this exact spot and preached Christianity to a mostly pagan population in the sixth century. The current chapel was built in 1837 and is open to visitors in the summer.Photo: Izzet Keribar/Getty Images17/24Sumela Monastery (Trabzon, Turkey)This Greek Orthodox monastery in Turkey was built in honor of the Virgin Mary within the Pontic Mountains. The structure was likely built between A.D. 375 and 395. While it served for religious purposes for hundreds of years, it is now mainly a tourist attraction funded by the Turkish government. Photo: Getty Images/Sonja Ooms18/24St. Govans Chapel (Pembrokeshire, Wales)Nestled into the cliffs on the southwestern coast of Wales, St. Govans Chapel is a small limestone church built in the 13th or 14th century. The chapel is dedicated to St. Govan, an Irish monk who, according to legend, was saved from pirates during the fifth or sixth century, when the cliffside opened up to create a safe haven for him to hide in. He created a hermitage on the cove and would ring a magical bell to warn others of pirates.Photo: Getty Images/Fabrice Bisignano19/24Temple of Valadier (Marche, Italy)Inside the mouth of a cave in the Gorge of Frasassi hides the Temple of Valadier. The small octagonal chapel was commissioned by Pope Leo XII, who was originally from the municipality of Genga, where the cave is located. Completed in 1828, the temple was believed to be the work of architect Giuseppe Valadier; however, it was later discovered to have been designed and built gradually by local architects. The neoclassical temple, also known as the Madonna of Frasassi shrine, was built using white travertine from a nearby quarry and is topped with a lead-covered dome.Photo: Getty Images/Mukul Banerjee Photography20/24Kailasa Temple (Maharashtra, India)The Ellora Caves of Maharashtra, India, contains 34 monasteries and temples carved into a basalt cliff and includes Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain sites of worship. The largest monolithic cave temple in the complex is Cave 16, Kailasa Temple, which was constructed by King Krishna I in the eighth century and is decorated with impressive carvings, sculptures, and ceiling paintings. The Ellora Caves were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, and the site attracts tourists and pilgrims alike.Photo: Getty Images/Wilatlak Villette21/24Wat Tham Suea (Kanchanaburi, Thailand)Wat Tham Suea, also known as Tiger Cave Temple, is a Buddhist temple set atop a hill in the Krabi province. The temple was founded in the 1970s by a Buddhist monk, who reportedly was meditating in a cave on the site when he saw tigers roaming through the space. Visitors can climb over 1,200 steps to reach the large golden Buddha statue and enjoy panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.Photo: Getty Images22/24Jvari Monastery (Mtskheta, Georgia)The Christian religious site on a mountaintop overlooking Mtskheta dates back to the fourth century when a cross was reportedly constructed over a pagan place of worship. A smaller church was built in 545 and the present structure was completed in 605. The cliffside Jvari Monastery is a tetraconch, or a structure with four apses, and the cross-shaped building is decorated with reliefs. The monastery, along with other historic churches in Mtskheta, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.Photo: Getty Images23/24Santa Cueva de Covadonga (Asturias, Spain)Set within a natural cave in the Picos de Europa mountain range, Santa Cueva de Covadonga is a Catholic sanctuary with a rich history. The site, according to Christian tradition, was where Visigoth nobleman Pelagius discovered a hermit worshiping the Virgin Mary, and it later became a hiding place for him and his troops during the Battle of Covadonga in 718. Following Pelagiuss victory, which was credited to the Virgin Mary, King Alfonso I had a chapel built in the cave dedicated to the Virgin. The current Romanesque-style chapel was designed by architect Luis Menndez-Pidal and completed in 1874.Photo: UCG/Getty Images24/24San Pietro Barisano (Matera, Italy)The ancient city of Matera in Southern Italy is home to numerous rupestrian, or rock-hewn, churches. The cave-filled area was first occupied during the Paleolithic era, and early churches were founded by Christian monks in spots used for pagan worship. The largest church in the city, San Pietro Barisano, has a foundation that dates to the 12th century and was enhanced in the 17th century with a bell tower and frescos. The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, with the organization celebrating it as the most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region.