I've been trying to get a good picture of this place for months now. It's a magnificent structure but so hard to find the right part to show. Anyway, above is Treasure Hill.
Treasure Hill started life as a military lodge and fortification, but it's true life was what happened next. For many decades it was an illegal village built, maintained, and run by a community of homeless. In this community they shared everything, had communal facilities such as ovens. They fished in the river and grew crops on the land. They even found a way to filter the river water and to use solar power for electricity.
However over the decades it became more and more rundown. In 2007 the government stepped in to do something about it. Instead of fixing it up and letting the people continue to live there. They renovated it and turned it into an "artistic village" where many artist live and display their work.
The idea is/was to continue the theme of community and sharing by having artist live in this space, share the facilities, and create their art. This of course coming as a slap in the face to those people who used to live there and do that as their way of life, and not for "fun" or for the "experience" like the artist are doing there now.
I must say that a small few of the original residents were allowed to come back, and those that didn't were given some money. However I do have a theory about where those homeless have now gone. I'll share that with you some time in the next few days.
