High Heeled Church
The Stöckelschuh Church (Chinese: 高跟鞋 教堂; Pinyin: Gāogēnxié Jiàotáng ), also known as the Cinderella Church in German-language media , is a tourist attraction in the west of the Chiayi district in Taiwan . It was opened on February 8, 2016 for the Chinese New Year. The building replicates the shape of a high-heeled shoe . Except for the conical heel , its skin consists of transparent blue glass. The half near the heel is open at the top like the entry of a shoe. The church is popular as a wedding church.
Location, construction and appearance
The church is located near the Taiwan Strait coast in Budai Township, west of Chiayi County.
Construction was designed by the Southwest Coast National Scenic Area Administration , which reports to the Taiwan Government's Bureau of Tourism, and began in October 2015. The outer facade was completed in February 2016, the church opened on July 23, 2016.
The Stöckelschuh Church is a transparent glass building with a total height of 17.76 meters, 11.91 meters wide and 25.16 meters long. The rounded construction consists of 1269 steel girders and 320 flat, blue panes of glass, which differ in size and shape. It has a capacity of 100 people. The construction project cost the equivalent of around 630,000 euros.
background
With the construction of the building, the builders said they wanted to commemorate the victims of black foot disease , a rare form of gangrene that occurred in southwestern Taiwan in the 1950s due to drinking water that was also contaminated with arsenic . The sick often had their feet amputated . In contrast, the high-heeled church should stand for a better and happier future, in which the dreams of young women would finally come true, as in the fairy tale of Cinderella with a glass shoe.
criticism
The construction of the Stöckelschuh church was criticized by some politicians and architects. The main points of criticism were the opinion that the unusual design of the building did not match the surroundings and did not do justice to the concern of commemorating the victims of Black Foot's disease. The head of the architecture department at Tunghai University Chiu Hao-Hsiu expressed the view that the construction of the church had not been carefully considered with regard to the environment and local history, nor from a cultural, aesthetic or religious point of view.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hsin-yin Lee: Tourism Bureau trying to revive charm of 'Cinderella Shoe' . Focus Taiwan. September 9, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
- ↑ 'Cinderella' church opens to tourists . stuff.co.nz., July 27, 2016
- ↑ China Times report from January 31, 2016 (Chinese)
Web links
Coordinates: 23 ° 22 ′ 40.4 ″ N , 120 ° 8 ′ 55.4 ″ E