Built to last

I was telling my aunt and uncle last night that the bridge outside the apartment I was staying in in Prague was built in the 1400s, completed around 1425 or so if I remember right. Then I happened to mention that our apartment building was from about the same time period, and their eyes widened like I have seldom seen. So I went on to tell them that the walls were almost a meter thick, and noticeably thicker at the bottom than at the top. They were built of stone, covered in plaster. My hostess had explained to me that this type of construction does not fall down, it simply does not. The weight of itself holds itself in place. 

I guess for most Icelanders, both these concepts are a bit hard to grasp. Turf house construction is extremely liable to fall down, practically designed for easy abandonment (as are many housing types, the world over). That a building might be over 500 years old, and liable to stand another 500, well, that seems like some magic trick. 

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