The Nīcgale Big Stone is the biggest known boulder in Latvia. It is situated deep in the forest, approximately 6 km to the East of the Nīcgale railway station, but it is easily reached due to arranged indicators and earth-road. The stone is situated on the crossing of forest paths.

There are preserved stories narrating that on the flat surface of the stone there were located seats and a table. Kalupe, Līksna, Vārkava and other districts’ landlords gathered together around the stone to take a rest and to refresh themselves when they were hunting. V. Gavars, who in the 1930s was a forester and being a young man he himself participated in landlords’ organized hunting as a beater, remembers local landlords’ doings connected with the hunting. Here were celebrated different holidays such as Līgo and, as older people narrate, on the surface of the stone was held dancing.
In 1938 A. Jotsons, a forester of Nīcgale Forestry, ordered a forest worker Lauskis to carve in stone 3 steps, and paid 5 lats for each. Still, nowadays tourists set their feet on these steps.

Dimensions of the boulder (1991): length – 10,5 m, width – 10,4 m, height – 3,50 m, girth – 31,1 m, volume – 170 m3.

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The Nīcgale big stone

The Nīcgale big stone

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