Tiny Slovenian City Might Be the World's Best Private Island

Photo via Architizer

Sure, you can buy a private island with a dose of Revolutionary War backstory, and you can buy one of Paul Allen's spare private islands. But even those impressive land masses take a backseat to Bled Island, the only island in Slovenia and easily one of the coolest private islands in the world. According to Architizer, it's been inhabited since the 9th century, when some guys built a pagan temple on archeological remains. From there's it's a tumultuous journey of teardowns and rebuilds: from the temple to a Christian-owned structure, of sorts, to a Romanesque basilica to a Gothic-style church to, finally, a Baroque church. It's this Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary that still stands today, completed with original details such as moldings and a staircase from 1655.

By Curbed National