249. Volkonskii dolmen

 This is an ancient dolmen (prehistoric tomb) near Sochi, Russia. Scientists think that it's an ancient sanctuary, where our ancestors used to meditate. The dolmen is basically a huge single piece of sandstone with a flat platform carved in it at the height of 4 metres. Above it there's the front wall with a hole in it. The builders used this hole to carve the inside room through it. Besides, the monolith was placed in such a manner that its front wall faces the summer solstice. The dolmen is roughly 9,5 thousand years old. It's called "Volkonskii dolmen" in the honour of duchess Volkonskaya, who spent a lot of time communicating with it spiritually. When you come close to the dolmen, you can look inside through this hole (there's also a door and some steps carved out in the stone, but you're not allowed to get inside, so you can only peek into the room). However, some people reported feeling strange after that, so the guides usually advise to consider your potential before looking. I don't think there's something particularly weird inside, but those places have ancient energy about them sometimes, and some people feel it. There's also this legend about the two stones and a river not far from the dolmen. There lived two brothers of noble blood, but the younger one fell in love with a simple girl. So the elder brother told him to just forget about it, but the younger said that he'd rather turn into stone than live without his beloved. When his words came true, his elder brother couldn't bear it, and also turned into stone. And when the girl learnt about what'd happened, she turned into a river that flows nearby, so that she stays eternally close to her beloved. Pretty romantic :)

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