Stone Murata
The Stone Monsters on the island of Elba are natural stone figures of various shapes and sizes (some over ten meters high) spread along the cliffs and mountains of the island of Elba. Rock formations formed over millions of years as a result of air erosion on limestone, basaltic, serpentine, iron, calamitic, marble, shingles and porphyry, but above all granodioretically, on the slopes of Monte Capanne, which lies in the western part of the island. / p>
Stone Monsters have been photographed, classified, censed and so named, with the specific name for each figure, by Nello Anselmi, hotelier and photographer living on the island. His research, begun in 1978 and followed in 1993 by the publication of the book "Monsters of Stone and Legends on the Island of Elba", still ongoing.
Only some of these stone figures, known by the islanders, are related to local legends: The culpa of the devil, linked to the legend of the Madonna del Monte, Napoleon's chair, an armchair-shaped rock from where he would be embarked the exiled emperor fleeing from the island of Elba according to an erroneous local legend. Others, after the release of the book, are now linked to events such as the Eagle's Masso, linked to Napoleon Bonaparte's stay in that place, from the top of which he observed Corsica, the nun Foca reminding of the existence of the quell an animal on the cliffs of the island, the submarine that takes the thought to the submarine Sebastiano Veniero that Elba stopped before his tragic mission, documented with a cippo on the dock at Portoferraio. These rock formations have now become a new attraction for nature lovers and trekking, so that the Marciana Municipality with a resolution of April 29, 2011 has determined that the huge granodioritic formations located in the vicinity of the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Monte will be sponsored from the same and served, with the economic aid of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, from old retrieved trails, so as to constitute a true park of stone figures. It is particularly impressive to visit it in the evening, when the stone world as a result of the game of lights and shadows seems to take life, and the sun that disappears behind the Corsica tones of rose.
On April 21st, 2013, Stone Walkers Paths have been inaugurated, a route led by information panels, paths and brochures that allow you to discover some of the granite shapes such as the Crocodile, the Condor and others. The route, which will be completed more and more, was inaugurated in the presence of Mayor Anna Bulgaresi and director of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park Franca Zanichelli and illustrated by Stefano Bramanti, then president of Circolo Pertini. The trails were created thanks to a multi-year environmental project, run by volunteers from the Sandro Pertini dell'Elba Cultural Circle (http://circolopertinielba.org/), Livorno Livestock Officers, Local Elementary Schools, in agreement with the Commune of Marciana and the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago.
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