Friar's Stone (Pedra do Frade)

Friar's Stone (Pedra do Frade) is an intriguing monolith on a seaside cliff made up of a smaller stone balanced atop a huge boulder. The monolith weights 30 tons and it's about 9 meters high.

Nobody really knows how the monolith ended up there and its inclined position defies the laws of gravity. There are many theories about the monolith but the most accepted one is that some rocks rolled down from the hill and one ended up on the top of the other. Erosion caused by wind and rain shaped the monolith along the years.

Local legend has it that the monolith contains a treasure, deposited there by the Jesuits in the 17th century. The Jesuits  would have arrived in this area on a mission to integrate the indigenous population with the Christian faith.

Friar's Stone is situated on a rocky cliff at the Praia do Gi near Laguna in South Brazil.




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