THE MANPUPUNER FORMATIONSIn Mansi their name means “little mountain of the gods”, but they are also
THE MANPUPUNER FORMATIONSIn Mansi their name means “little mountain of the gods”, but they are also known as the Seven Strong Men. They are found in the Komi Republic in the Northern Ural Mountains of Russia, which are among the world’s oldest extant mountain ranges. These mountain ranges extend 2,498 km from the Kazakh steppes along the northern border of Kazakhstan to the coast of the Arctic Ocean.The Manpupuner Formations are 30 to 42 metres high and visitors are advised not to attempt to climb the Strong Men, though there are unsubstantiated claims that climbers have fallen. These beautiful structures have been little studied and are relatively unknown to tourists outside of Russia; within Russia they are known as one of the country’s Seven Wonders.The geology of these columns dates back at least 200-300 million years; they are composed of crystalline schists originating from a mountain. Over the course of time the area was eroded by rain, wind and frost. Several of the columns are narrower at the base, and six of the ‘Men’ are huddled together, leaving the 7th looking as though it is standing apart.According to a local legend, the stone pillars were once seven giants: the Samoyeds, who walked through the mountains to Siberia, to destroy the Vogulsky (Mansi) people. Upon seeing the holy Vogulsky Mountains, the shaman of the giants dropped his drum and the entire group froze into the stone pillars.-TELMore info (in Russian but you can translate it badly into English using the site’s ‘translate’ function): http://www.utro-russia.ru/news.html?id=35043More photos here: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/seven-gigantic-rock-figures-rising-beneath-urals/17781Image: Komi Republic http://rkomi.ru/en/ -- source link
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