Prague has continued to expand in the same way many other cities have grown over the centuries. We may never know what they used the land for before becoming part of the city. Sometimes, there are a few tantalising remnants which tell a fragment of a story. This article is about the lone mysterious Prague menhir – the Petrified Servant.
Description
The village of Dolní Chabry is in the northern part of greater Prague. It is a residential area in the suburbs, under-served by Prague’s transport network.
In front of 542 Ládevska street1 2, there is a red-grey stone that juts out someone’s fence and protrudes on the pavement. This is a menhir known as the Petrified Servant1 but there is little to suggest how or why this name came about.
Up till the 1960s it stood in the middle of a field. It was only over the course of the past 60 years that urban sprawl caught up and overtook the menhir1. Before the 1960s, it would have stood out, visible over great distances.
Legend
According to the village newsletter, the menhir attracts curious visitors3. Some claim it is a Celtic stone containing ‘energy’ that cures headaches and lets you live a long life3. Some others claim Celtic menhirs can calm your heart rate down to 45 beats a minute3.
There is no science to back this. The legends feed on the fact that the civilisations that used these menhirs didn’t leave any records.
Archeology
In other countries menhirs can determine precise astronomical events.
I’ve written about Malta’s Mnajdra before which is aligned with the solstices.
In this case, since only 1 exists, we can’t tell what astronomical event it’s connected to, if any. It is possible there was a dolmen here2. If so, it would mean someone removed the other menhirs here. People have always used raw material to build their own houses so it is possible this is the sole remnant of something as grand as Stonehenge, Mnajdra or Ħaġar Qim.
Geologists connect this flint-like stone with quartz veins2 to the nearby Ladvi hill which overlooks Prague centre1. Experts date the stone to between 5 000 and 7 000 years old1 2. This would imply someone quarried stone before the Celts occupied Bohemia1. In fact it would be closer to the Funnel Beaker culture than the Celts.
I’ve written about the Funnel Beaker culture in Bohemia.
The menhir is now registered as an item of cultural heritage in Czechia and has been since 19684. We may never know what this was for or what it’s significance is.
- Prague’s mysterious standing stone; Raymond Johnston; MagicBohemia.com (Retrieved 2020-02-13) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Zkamenělý slouha; Hrady.cz; 2004-11-24[↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Kaleidoskop; Chaberský ZPRAVODAJ (Council newsletter); 2008-05[↩][↩][↩]
- Menhir Zkamenělý slouha; National Heritage Institute; 2004-01-01[↩]