Surovikino Stones

The Surovikino Stones, also called the Surovikino Hills, are a group of boulders on top of burial-mound-like hills in the Surovikinsky District of Volgograd Oblast, Russia, within the Sysoevsky rural settlement near the khutor of Sysoevsky, a few kilometres from the town of Surovikino. Locals call them healing stones and a place of power: people come here for healing, strength and to make wishes.

History and origin

The stones emerge from the ground on the hilltops, and their origin is still debated. One explanation is that they are ordinary sandstone carried by a glacier from Scandinavia. Another, popular among local residents, holds that the boulders were melted in 1943, when a Katyusha rocket salvo struck the tops of the mounds. There are also more fantastic ideas, such as the claim that these are the remains of an ancient spaceport built by an advanced civilisation.

According to local stories, there were once three stone-topped mounds. When someone tried to plough one of them during sowing, its stones are said to have taken offence and sunk into the ground. Two mounds remain today.

Legends and accounts

Many visitors say the stones are warmer than the surrounding air: snow does not settle on them and melts even in hard frosts, and the boulders stay dry. The custom is to find "your own" stone, the one that feels warmer than the others, focus, and make a wish or ask for healing. Walking barefoot on the stones is said to relieve fatigue quickly.

Other beliefs are attached to the place too: on the summer solstice the sun supposedly travels exactly along the line of the hills, lightning often strikes the boulders during thunderstorms, and some consider the whirlwind that rises here to be a living being from a parallel world. All of this remains legend and personal accounts.

What to see

Thousands of ribbons are tied to the bushes around the mounds, and pilgrims leave coins and other tokens on and around the stones. Some of the boulders are covered with moss. Besides the mysterious atmosphere, visitors come for the steppe scenery and views over the surrounding hills; landscaping work has been carried out here in recent years.

Getting there

From Surovikino, drive about 4.5 km along the A-260 highway, then turn onto the road towards Nizhnechirskaya. Before reaching the khutor of Sysoevsky, turn left; a dirt track leads on to the hills. After rain the dirt track can be hard going for ordinary cars.