Monumental Monoliths
Single (or originally so) pieces of stone of great weight detached (or intended to be detached) from the living rock and used for building or as monuments in their own right. Either over 100 tonnes OR otherwise 'significant' e.g. in having been given a 'name'.
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Aksum | The 'Great Stelum' was originally 33 metres long and estimated to have weighed over 500 tonnes - it was moved from its quarry but broke on or before erection. The 'Rome Stelum' (recently returned) is 24-meters (78-foot) tall and, in total, weighs 160 tonnes. It had broken but was further cut into 6 sections to facilitate its removal to Rome | |
| Antequera Dolmens Site | Menga "was built with thirty-two megaliths, the largest weighing about 180 tonnes (200 tons)" (Wiki). | |
| Baalbek | The Trilothon - 3 stone blocks beneath the Temple of Jupiter - "Each one is 70 feet long, 14 feet high, 10 feet thick, and weigh around 800 tons". In the nearby quarry is a further stone known as the 'Stone of the South' (Hajar el Gouble) or 'The Stone of the Pregnant Woman' (Hajar el Hibla) which is estimated to weigh 1200 tonnes but was never completely separated from the surrounding rock and remains unfinished. (This stone is mentioned in the ICOMOS review map) | |
| Ellora Caves | ||
| Göreme NP | ||
| Lalibela | ||
| Mahabalipuram | Pancha Rathas | |
| Megalithic Temples of Malta | Hagar Qim | |
| Nubian Monuments | The 'Unfinished Obelisk' at the Stone Quarrries in Aswan. It broke in situ and was never moved. Its weight is estimated at 1200 tonnes. | |
| Old City of Jerusalem | The 'Western Stone' which forms part of the lower portion of the Western wall. It is 13.6 meters (44.6 feet) long, 3 metres (9.8 feet) high and has an estimated width of 3.3 meters (10.8 feet). It weighs 517 tonnes. | |
| Quirigua | Stela E: .. This enormous monolith is the largest stone ever quarried by the ancient Maya and weighs approximately 65 tons, it may even be the largest free-standing worked monolith in the New World. (wiki) | |
| Ravenna | Roof Dome of the Mausoleum of Theodoric. 300 tonne , 10 metres in diameter | |
| Sassanid Archaeological Landscape | The Collosal Statue of Shapur I was carved out of a stalagmite. | |
| St. Petersburg | The plinth of the statue of the Bronze Horseman (Peter the Great) ? known as the ?Thunder Stone?. It is thought to have weighed 1500 tonnes prior to final carving when moved the 6 miles from the quarry to a barge on the Gulf of Bothnia and on to St Petersburg in 1768-70. | |
| Stonehenge | The 'Heelstone' weighs 35 tonnes |
Suggestions?
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Monumental Monoliths?
A connection should:
- Not be "self evident"
- Link at least 3 different sites
- Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
- Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
- Be explained, with reference to a source