The Stone Wedding – masterpiece of the nature

Have you ever been someplace where you feel special energy just by entering? Like there is something that is pulling you in? It was so exciting for me to finally visit this unique place and I have to say it was more than I expected. While being there I heard different legends of how it was created. The Stone Town of Kuklica (also known as the Stone Dolls) is connected with many legends.

Once upon a time, there used to be a man who couldn’t decide which of the two girls he liked he should marry. He planned to marry both of them on the same day at different times. During the first wedding, the second girl was curious to see who was getting married on the same day as her, so she went to the wedding. When she saw her love marrying another girl, she cursed everyone at the wedding and turned them into stone. Because of this legend, locals call this place “The Stone Wedding”.

The second story is about a girl dreaming of marrying the man of her dreams. The girl grew up to find out that the man she loved had given his heart to another woman. Her heart shattered into a million pieces that could never put together again. The heartbroken girl went on the wedding of her loved one and cursed all the attendants turning them into stone.

According to these two legends the locals gave names to each of the Stone Dolls. In the next photo, you can see the Bride and the groom in front of me and my daughter.

The third legend speaks of a forest that once was and was burned during the battles of man. The area has become a wasteland and the people forgot about it. The next winter the temperatures were very low and when the army passed through it, all of the soldiers turned into rocks.

The other participants in the wedding can also be seen here. Like the godfather on the next one. Don’t forget to introduce yourself 🙂

We were super surprised to see these cute inhabitants in the next photos. The small cacti were making the place even more special. And I have to add that it’s very rare to see them growing in an open area in this part of the Balkan.

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I am so happy we came here as a family and I really recommend it. You have to see this masterpiece of nature. It was so difficult to choose which photos to post here. It looks unique in different parts of the day. Imagine the last photo is with no philter, just as it was taken.

I know you enjoyed the stories of how this place came to be, but there is also a scientific explanation behind this natural phenomenon. It’s a long process of natural erosion of the volcanic rocks of the area, happening during the past 100.000 years. The soft tuffs rocks on the base are overlaid by solid, sturdy andesitic and ignimbrites on the top, which is near 30 million years old.

There are four places on the Balkan where you can see this phenomenon. Have you seen any of them? You can find this place easy by GPS. It’s located 8 km northwest of Kratovo. It’s easily accessible by car and you can park right at the entrance. Hurry before they start charging entrance fees.

We spent only one hour there because we arrived late in the afternoon and I believe 1-2 hours is enough. If you have more time you shouldn’t miss to walk around the place and find those pretty cacti.