The relationship between man and stones is not as simple as we used to think. What role do they play in our life? Tools of labor, weapons and calendars were made of stones, dwellings and fortresses were built, their energy was used for treatment, and graves were closed with them …
it is believed that some stones at a certain time of the day have ultra-frequency vibration, and this is their quality the ancients could use to transmit information and even to communicate with space.
Stones were used for talismans, amulets and charms to protect against the negative effects of the surrounding world - damage, evil eye and other misfortunes. They served as a place of sacrifice, were used for offering prayers, they were turned into monuments and monuments.
Primitive people stepped into the metal age from the stone age. Mysterious structures made of stones - megaliths (dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs) are striking in size and mystery. Suffice it to recall Stonehenge in England, the stone idols of Easter Island, Sacsayhuaman in South America.
And relatively recently, megaliths were found in Corsica. It turned out that in one of the most picturesque corners of France, away from human eyes, from time immemorial, several dozen mysterious stone idols have kept their secret.
PHILITOSE STONES PARK
The first stone in the southwestern part of Corsica in 1946 was found by Charles Cesare, a resident of the village of Filitosa. It was an almost three-meter menhir (from the Breton men - "stone", gir - "long"), the simplest type of megaliths. A roughly cut long stone, about 20 meters high, somewhat resembled a human figure.
Promotional video:
The village, located just 20 kilometers north of the coastal town of Propriano, quickly gained widespread popularity. Archaeologists flocked here, like flies to honey, who found 19 more idols with blurred outlines of human faces, though more reminiscent of muzzles. The ubiquitous tourists followed the archaeologists.
The authorities organized the park, placing all 20 idols there, and made the entrance paid. The business turned out to be very successful: cafes and parking lots for cars and buses appeared, arriving not only from all over the island, but from all over Europe - a special ferry was launched from Marseille to Propriano. It is easy to get from Paris by plane to the capital of Corsica - the city of Ajaccio, and from there it is a stone's throw.
During excavations, it was found that the first human settlements on the island arose in 8,000 BC. e., which is typical in general for all the islands of the Mediterranean basin, including Crete, Cyprus and Malta. Megaliths also appeared several millennia BC. Some of the stone idols are called warriors - these are the youngest megaliths, they are "only" more than three thousand years old.
Scientists assume that they were erected by some invading aliens who invaded Corsica from the sea. They partially destroyed the menhirs that had decorated the island before their arrival, and partially used them to build their towers.
That's all scientists have to say. Who these aliens were, why they needed to build their unusual towers, history is still silent. It is likely that the invaders were at a higher stage of development than the local inhabitants, who did not know either iron or bronze.
The suspicion of some researchers falls on the Philistines - residents of the eastern Mediterranean: they were brave sailors, merchants and pirates. And on the later statues, it is most likely that the aliens are depicted - on these idols you can see daggers and long swords, and on the chest and back one can clearly see armor or chain mail. The heads are crowned with round helmets, some of which show traces of broken horns.
THE LEGEND OF SAN LORENZO
Over time, menhirs were found in other parts of the island. Perhaps the most recent were stone figures found in the thickets on the outskirts of the village of San Lorenzo, which is located in the northern part of Corsica, about 30 kilometers northeast of the city of Corte. An unkempt asphalt mountain road leads to it, tourists are not often here.
One of the menhirs, an idol about 2 meters tall, hid in the thickets right behind the old, long-closed church. Above the massive chin, a wide mouth without lips and teeth is visible. The nose is only slightly outlined, instead of the eyes there are only two holes. There is a legend about this strange figure in the village.
Once upon a time there were vampires on the island who came out of the graves at night to catch young girls. When such a vampire settled near San Lorenzo, the residents gathered to jointly decide how to get rid of him. Since he only went out at night and most often wandered around the old church, they decided to set a trap there. A girl, the most beautiful in the village, was appointed as bait for the ghoul. Calculated as follows: the beauty will come to the church late at night, the vampire will take the bait and come out to her, then they will finish him off.
And then the evening came. The brave girl went to the church, and the brave men, armed with shafts and pitchforks, crept behind her at some distance. But the vampire appeared. The girl began to call him tenderly, and then suddenly, as if in response, there was a wild cry. Courage left the beauty, mortal horror fettered all her limbs, her heart stopped, and she turned to stone. And then it turned out that the day before in the church after the service, due to an oversight of the servant, the young man was locked. He already imagined how he would have to be locked up all week without bread and drink - until the next service …
And then suddenly I heard steps! Not wanting to miss the only chance of salvation, the poor man yelled at the top of his lungs. The empty vaults of the church intensified the scream many times over, turning it into an eerie trumpet voice … The vampire did not appear near the village after that story. The girl, turning into stone, remained forever near the church …
But this is just a legend, and scientists popularly explained that the menhirs of San Lorenzo are the oldest on the island. The oldest of them were rough stone rectangles like obelisks. Later, after 1,000 years, stones appeared that resemble human figures - with a flat chest and stomach, a relief backside, a stooped back and wide shoulders. But those idols had neither heads nor limbs.
And even later, their counterparts appeared, but with the head and face, on which the eyes and mouth were indicated, the chin was highlighted. If there was also a nose, then, as a rule, potatoes. However, none of the figures resembles a warrior, as on the stones in Filatose. Apparently, the conquerors did not get here, confining themselves to the coast of the island.
Now menhirs have become one of the main attractions of Corsica. And now you don't have to fly to the distant Easter Island! And along the way, you can visit the homeland of Napoleon Bonaparte in Ajaccio, see the grandiose equestrian monument to the emperor, surrounded by all four of his brothers. But what we never know is how the future emperor himself related to stone idols and is it true that before one of them he swore to rise to the French throne sooner or later …
Anatoly BUROVTSEV, Konstantin RISHES