Stone Town of Kuklica, Kratovo, North Macedonia

The stone town is an area consisting of over 120 naturally formed stone pillars, located in the village of Kuklica, near Kratovo.

There are two main legends surrounding the formation of the strange stone pillars in Kuklica. The most famous legend is that of a man who could not decide which of two women he should marry. So, the man planned to marry each woman on the same day at different times. When the first wedding was in progress, the woman to marry the man second went to see who was getting married on the same day as she. When she saw her future husband marrying another woman, she cursed all in attendance at the wedding and turned them into stone.

Another popular legend is that there was once a forest in the area, but due to battles it was burned down. Then, the area became a wasteland. The temperatures were very low and when the army passed through the wasteland, all of the soldiers turned into rocks.

According to the local villagers, new figures appear every 5-6 years. There are four places at the Balkans where you can see this phenomenon, three of which are in North Macedonia.

Aside from mystic stories and legends, the earth pyramid in Kuklica was formed as a result of natural erosion.

References:

Wikipedia

Prehistoric and archaeological sites in North Macedonia

User Reviews

Goko K (8 months ago)
Wonderful natural monument. Sadly there is no road sign where to turn from the main road (it is in Ketenovo village where you need to take a narrow asphalt road of about 3+ km to reach the Kuklica - Stone Dolls). I. this area I highly recommend to visit the Lesnovo Monastery of Saint Gavril (Gabriel) and the old town of Kratovo.

Emir Kadusic (9 months ago)
Close to main road, but porly marked. Anyway worthy to visit but not during hot days.

Damjan Bogdanovski (2 years ago)
Beautiful rare nature monument.

Jonathan Thaler (2 years ago)
Impressive and unique stone formation, worth a visit in the beautiful macedonian landscape.

Andrzej Zawada (2 years ago)
Really nice place where you can see how funny nature can be. Rather lonely and far away from bigger cities so probably good time to look at beautifull World in quitness.

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Monte d'Accoddi

Monte d"Accoddi is a Neolithic archaeological site in northern Sardinia, located in the territory of Sassari. The site consists of a massive raised stone platform thought to have been an altar. It was constructed by the Ozieri culture or earlier, with the oldest parts dated to around 4,000–3,650 BC.

The site was discovered in 1954 in a field owned by the Segni family. No chambers or entrances to the mound have been found, leading to the presumption it was an altar, a temple or a step pyramid. It may have also served an observational function, as its square plan is coordinated with the cardinal points of the compass.

The initial Ozieri structure was abandoned or destroyed around 3000 BC, with traces of fire found in the archeological evidence. Around 2800 BC the remains of the original structure were completely covered with a layered mixture of earth and stone, and large blocks of limestone were then applied to establish a second platform, truncated by a step pyramid (36 m × 29 m, about 10 m in height), accessible by means of a second ramp, 42 m long, built over the older one. This second temple resembles contemporary Mesopotamian ziggurats, and is attributed to the Abealzu-Filigosa culture.

Archeological excavations from the chalcolithic Abealzu-Filigosa layers indicate the Monte d"Accoddi was used for animal sacrifice, with the remains of sheep, cattle, and swine recovered in near equal proportions. It is among the earliest known sacrificial sites in Western Europe.

The site appears to have been abandoned again around 1800 BC, at the onset of the Nuragic age.

The monument was partially reconstructed during the 1980s. It is open to the public and accessible by the old route of SS131 highway, near the hamlet of Ottava. It is 14,9 km from Sassari and 45 km from Alghero. There is no public transportation to the site. The opening times vary throughout the year.

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