Tuesday, August 14, 2012

KUKLICA - THE STONE TOWN (NATURAL MONUMENT)


In the area of Kratovo near village Kuklica, a 10 million years old “stone town” is established. There are many legends and myths about the existence of the ‘Dolls’ but the most famous is the one that says that the stone figures are wedding guests that were cursed by a forsaken bride who turned them into rocks. There are 120 stone figures, one next to another and they are up to 10 meters high.
The legend has it that once upon a time a boy from the village of Kuklica (which is above the stone town) couldn’t decide which girl to marry so he asked two girls to be his brides. The weddings with both of them were planned to take place in one day. There used to be a tradition that there mustn’t be two weddings in one day, because the brides must not see each other during their weddings – it was considered to be bad luck. One of the brides, not knowing about this tradition saw that there is another wedding in the same day and ran out of her house to see who is getting married. When she saw her husband to be with another girl she cursed all of them: "Let God turn you all into rocks, even me" and all people turned into rocks.
According to another legend, the existence of the stone figures is very different. There used to be a forest in this area but due to wars it was burned down. Soon 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.
However, scientists do not agree with the legends. According to them, the stone figures were formed 10 million years ago by tectonic erosion, from minerals that dissolve in water. As time went by, nature created masterpieces. Locals say that every 5-6 years new figures appear.

















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