Giant church in shape of shoe in Taiwan

CHIAYI COUNTY, Taiwan – Budai, a township in southwest Taiwan, has built a church in the form of a giant high-heeled shoe, made of metal and blue glass tiles, seeking to  attract more tourists to the area. It is mainly used for weddings by locals.

The structure is some 17 meters (55.77 ft) tall at the highest point, the heel.

Talia Pan, Recreation Section Manager of the Southwest Coast National Scenic Area Administration which ran the project, said she wanted to turn a sad part of history into something positive.

“Because of (a) drinking water shortage in the southwestern coastal area in the 1960s, (residents) had to drill deep wells to get drinking water. Because of arsenic in the water, there were cases of Blackfoot disease … (which if) severe, the only option to save a life is to amputate both legs,” she said.

“Because of this, a lot of women lost the opportunity to walk into marriage, walk into a new life chapter on high-heeled shoes … Because of that history, we have created a place in Chiayi County, where people can get married, invoking the fairy tale of Cinderella.”