Kuklica Stone Dolls

At Kuklica near Kratovo around a hundred and twenty earth pillars stand in a hillside amphitheatre, formed where harder caps protected the volcanic tuff beneath them from erosion while the rest washed away. The local name means little dolls, and the story attached to them is a wedding party turned to stone after the groom married the wrong woman. Two pillars standing apart are pointed out as the bride and groom. The formation sits in the volcanic country around Kratovo, where the same tuff produced the stone the town was built from and the caves cut into the hillsides nearby.

Highlights

• The pillar field - around a hundred and twenty eroded earth columns.
• The capping stones - the harder rock that protected each pillar as the rest eroded.
• The wedding legend - the story attached to the formation.
• The amphitheatre - the hillside bowl the pillars stand in.

When to go

April to October is the most comfortable. Morning and evening light shows the pillars best. Summer is hot with no shade.

Practical notes

The site is small and the visit takes half an hour. There is no shade and minimal facilities. The pillars are fragile and erode further each year.

Nearby

Kratovo is nearby, and Lesnovo is southwest.