There is a famous dancing forest not only on the Curonian Spit in the Kaliningrad region, but also near Ryazan. It is believed that among these unusual trees it is necessary to make wishes. Even touching the huge stones on the Beautiful Sword River, on the Pleshcheyevo Lake, and in Moscow will also help make dreams come true. In Altai, you will have to go several circles around the stone arch column.
The forest started to dance
Dancing forest on the Curonian Spit - thousands of pines, bizarrely curved, branched and even twisted into a spiral. There are many legends about this place. It is believed that if you go through the bend of the trunk, you can get married or divorced - whichever is required. It is possible that the bark of pines also has some strength - it has been very often cut off recently. “To protect the trees, they had to be fenced off,” says Svetlana Potapova, director of excursions for the tour operator in Russia. - By the way, an amazing fact: newly planted curvatures do not.
A similar forest, only not dancing, but nicknamed by the drunken, is not far from Moscow, near Ryazan. “In 1971, a whirlwind passed here - according to one version, it was after this that the trunks bent. But the wind was raging everywhere, and there is a clear border between the normal and abnormal forest - in the neighboring birch grove the trees are straight,”Svetlana explains. They also say that dancing mushrooms grow here. It is not difficult to get there and check: from Moscow to the village of Shilovo, about 300 kilometers, and from Ryazan - 100.
Geese stones, virgin stones and horse stones
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In Moscow, the Goose Stone and the Devy Stone in the Voice Ravine in the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve are considered magical. According to legends, the first one gives masculine strength, and the second one heals from female ailments and helps to get pregnant. According to the guides of Pereslavl-Zalessky, the legendary Blue Stone (preserved from pagan times) also helped someone become parents. Christians tried to bury it, transport it, but inexplicably it ended up on the shore again. Now the sacred megalith is located on the territory of the Pleshcheyevo Lake National Park.
“Many believe that thanks to the stone, their wishes have come true,” says a guide from Pereslavl, who wished to remain anonymous. - They confessed to me: “We were here many years ago, making wishes. These are our desires. " And they point to teenage children. " Another famous megalith - the Horse-Stone - stands on three pillars on the banks of the Beautiful Sword River in the Tula Region. It is not far from the M-4 "Don" highway, the landmark is the village of Soldatskoye. The entrance is on a dirt road. "We were put into a ship on the Sword, at the Stone Horse" - the first mention of the stone dates back to 1499. “Even contemporaries sometimes believe that this stone helps a woman to conceive a child and a man to gain strength. The stone has a notch oriented towards the sun at the solstice, says Svetlana Potapova. "Local residents still believe that cattle cannot be grazed near the stone."
Damn and a peasant daughter
In the Kozelsky district of the Kaluga region, in the Ugra national park, there is a Devil's settlement. “In a small area there is a pile of huge boulders. According to one of the legends, a giant made his own home from stones, but then they destroyed it,”explains Svetlana Potapova. Another legend says that this is a gift from a devil of a beloved - a peasant daughter. She set a condition: to build a palace overnight. The devil called for help from evil spirits, which began to build, but, frightened by the morning crowing of a rooster, threw stones. According to Svetlana, in ancient times these boulders were used for rituals; many of the stones have holes and recesses. It is believed that the robber Kudeyar hid the treasure in the Devil's settlement in the 16th century. There are relic plants, including luminous moss (schistostega).
Draconian health and the ban on wheels
On the island of Olkhon on Lake Baikal there is a Shamanka rock, and in it there is a winding through cave. Only a Buryat shaman could enter there. Moreover, it was forbidden to pass by on wheels, only on horseback or on a sleigh. Women did not have the right to approach the cave (otherwise they would not have offspring) and relatives of a recently deceased person. In the Chemal region of the Altai Republic there is also a rock of Shamans. “Shamans periodically gather here for joint rituals,” says the head of a local travel agency, Oleg Kardakov. “After one such meeting, the weather was good in Altai for a whole year.” There are a couple of mystical objects in the Altai Territory, in the area of the Tavdinsky Caves. For example, the Arch of Desires. You need to touch it and go around the column of the arch three times - then the enigma will come true.
Kitezh-grad and the Mother of God
One of the most legendary places in the Nizhny Novgorod region is Lake Svetloyar, to the bottom of which, according to legend, Kitezh-grad sank during the Tatar-Mongol invasion. “The amazing feature of Svetloyar is incredibly clear water,” explains Svetlana Potapova. "It doesn't bloom, it doesn't smell, and it's incredibly tasty." There is also a trace-stone on the lake, on which, according to one of the local legends, the Mother of God left a trace. Nearby is the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Many pilgrims not only visit the temple, but also try to touch the stone.
Svetlana Baeva