best phrasing

[uchitelka]

I have been translating an article about Gerona. They give the image: there is a hill. On top of it there is a cathedral. And there are houses all the way up to the top. How can I put better:
Old Town with houses going up the hill
....climbing higher and higher up the hill
With the houses perching higher and higher up the hill
Houses perch higher and higher up the hill
houses rising higher and higher
This is the limit of my language.
Great, if you could help.

[susiedqq]

. . . with houses built up the hillside.

[Barb_D]

I applaud your efforts to use more creative vocabulary, but "perched" makes it sound like they are (maybe) not very stable, and "rising higher and higher" could make someone think that the buildings got taller (each building taller than the next, instead of starting at a different height).

Are you allowed to be creative? Can you say "Houses make their way up the (steep sides?) of the hill until the nestle in the shadow of the cathedral, magnificent at the summit" or something like that?

[uchitelka]

Loads of thanks, that's great. It's been thinking about it for days.

[e2e4]

Is it also possible to say

..with houses built on the hillside up to the church yard.

Thanks