The glass church shaped like a slipper

A church shaped like a giant slipper has been built in Taiwan. The building, which is made out of glass, is designed to woo women.

The venue includes over 300 glass panels and towers 16 metres up in the air, giving a whole new meaning to the term "high heel". It is located in Taiwan's Southwest Coast National Scenic Area, a popular tourist destination in Taiwan.

Why was the waterfront church in Ocean View Park built? It is scheduled to open on 8th February, just in time for the romance of the Chinese New Year. Local government officials apparently hope the building will attract women, who, of course, like nothing more than polished glass and things that look like shoes.

"We want to make it a blissful, romantic avenue… Every girl imagines how they will look like when they become the bride," Pan Tsuei-ping, the administration's recreation section manager, told the BBC.

However, the venue will not actually host wedding ceremonies, with the church instead intended for photographs before the wedding.

While the sight will bring Cinderella to mind for many Western viewers, the property is actually inspired by a local story about girl in the 1960s who suffered from Blackfoot disease and had her legs amputated, causing her wedding to be cancelled. As a result, she spent the rest of her life in a church and never married.

How does it intend to attract female visitors? Spokesman Zheng Rongfeng told Taiwan's United Daily News that the venue will contain 100 "female-oriented" objects, such as maple leaves, chairs, biscuits and cakes.

The response online has been mixed, notes the BBC, with some saying it "looks better than most churches anyway" and others rejecting the way that it objectifies women.

"I wear flip flops anyway," wrote one user.

Photo: Instagram