The small town of Nördlingen, Bavaria may be one of the most precious towns on earth as it is thought to have around 72 tons of diamonds underneath.
Diamonds, which are scattered throughout Nördlingen, are not just precious stones. They were formed approximately 15 million years ago, when an asteroid traveling at about 15.5 miles per second hit Earth.
Geologists estimate that the space rock measured about a kilometer wide and weighed close to 3 billion tons. Upon contact, it generated enough intense heat and pressure to produce a thick rock called suevite, which is made up of glass, crystals and diamonds.
When settlers arrived millions of years later in 898 AD, they had no idea they were building their homes and businesses on land that had the highest concentration of diamonds since they were scattered and invisible to the naked eye. . For years, the inhabitants of Nördlingen assumed that the origin of the crater was volcanic. It wasn't until the 1960s that it was confirmed to have come from an asteroid.
Not knowing any better, the inhabitants used Suevite as a building material to build their city. As a result, many of Nördlingen's most famous structures, including St. George's Church and a defensive wall from the Middle Ages, have a high value.
Today, the residents of Nördlingen know that they are living on several tons of diamonds, but they will not destroy their town to sell the material since the pieces are too small in diameter and become almost worthless.
But the German city has found various ways to capitalize on their unusual claim to fame. Tourists come from all over the world to appreciate Nördlingen's magnificent architecture and to visit the Ries Crater Museum, which displays local samples and those from other craters around the world.
Information source @BalkanWeb: Read more at: www.botasot.al
