Video: The Stone of Eloquence is the most unhygienic landmark in Europe
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Every day, Blarney Castle, located near the Irish city of Cork, attracts thousands or even tens of thousands of people from all over the world. And all in order to kiss the famous Speech Stone – the most unhygienic landmark in Europe.
Different people love stones in different ways. Photographer Friz Hoffmann, for example, travels across America in search of huge boulders carried away by a retreating glacier hundreds of kilometers from the mountain ranges where they formed. And millions of people around the world can boast of kissing the Blarney Stone, also known as the Stone of Eloquence.
Traditionally, it is believed that this object is part of the Skunk Stone - one of the symbols of Scotland, on which the monarchs of this country, and later Great Britain, were crowned since ancient times. King Robert the Bruce allegedly donated part of the historical block to the Irish feudal lord Cormac McCarthy for his help in the war against the British.
This stone began to be associated with the acquisition of eloquence in the sixteenth century, when Queen Elizabeth of England sent her confidant to Blarney to negotiate with the owner the conditions for the transfer of the stronghold to the rule of the British crown. However, for a long time, the envoy was never able to start an appropriate conversation with the local feudal lord - he always found some excuses. This is how a legend appeared that has survived to this day.
Thanks to her, Blarney Castle is the most visited in all of Ireland. Thousands of people go there to stand in a huge line for the opportunity to kiss the Stone of Eloquence and find the corresponding gift. This is despite the fact that the travel site Tripster in 2009 declared this object the most unhygienic attraction in Europe.
The famous writer Chuck Palahniuk also scoffs at this. In the novel "Fight Club", the protagonist says that he committed the first act of vandalism in Blarney Castle, urinating on the Stone of Speech.
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