The Freakishly Tall, Gallic Stone that Foiled Old Nick's Tricks

The Freakishly Tall, Gallic Stone that Foiled Old Nick's Tricks

Nestled in the heart of a little French village called Cuguen, in Ille-et-Vilaine, stands an odd stone, the Menhir de la Pierre-Longue, or the Pierre Saint-Jaouan, standing at 6.5 meters and measuring 1.85 meters at its broadest, with a base circumference of 7 meters.

Legends abound that this stone was adorned with a cross at its peak and was declared a monument historique in 1889. The local, somewhat gruesome folklore relates an amusing tale. The Devil, in a rush and momentarily preoccupied by a pack of cunning, yapping dogs, is said to have carelessly dropped one of his seven stones. The stone, still seeming somewhat bewildered by the abrupt landing, remains stubbornly rooted in the ground. Another version of the story tells of a stone that, like a scalding-hot potato, slipped from the Devil's sack, causing him to lose his grip.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

Written by Nicolo Ciampini

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