A Mailman Tripped Over a Rock...Then He Spent 33 Years Collecting Them and Built THIS

by N/A, 10 years ago | 2 min read

If you're a traveler, or an aspiring one, this is definitely a place you need to put on your list.

One day in 1879, Ferdinand Cheval, a French postman, stumbled over a rock during his mail route. After going back to find out what caused his fall, he discovered the culprit: a peculiarly shaped sandstone.

The distinctive stone struck a chord in Cheval, reminding him of a dream he had years before, of building a castle. Convicted and inspired, he went on collecting weather-worn rocks and pebbles like this each day, for the next several decades.Â Millions of rocks, and 33 years later, the French postman Cheval built this.

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"Le Palais IdÃ©al" (The Ideal Palace): completely designed and constructed by one man, Cheval.

The beautiful structure is open to tourists every day of the year excluding Christmas and New Years.

The ornamentation and design were all inspired by elements all from his dream, decades earlier.

The structure features a bestiary of animals and mythological figures

Cheval's masterpiece has sculptures of octopuses, caiman, elephants, pelicans, bears, as well as giants, fairies, and various other mythological creatures. Cheval says that along with his dream, the nature around him was ample inspiration.

And the inside is just as remarkably intricate and awe-inspiring as the outside.

To think one man built this is absolutely baffling.

Not only is it ornately detailed and breathtakingly beautiful...

But it's absolutely massive. At its tallest point, the palace stands over 30 feet tall.

And to think, this was built by a postman that tripped over a rock one random day...