Behind the village of Pillovo, next to the Kikhtolka platform, in the Kingisepp district of the Leningrad region, there is a menhir stone.

Menhir- translated from several European languages means "long stone"... The menhir stone is a wild stone erected by people during the Neolithic or Bronze Age (between 9500 and 1100 BC). The famous dolmens that can be seen in the Gelendzhik region date back to this period. It turned out that in the Leningrad region there are such structures of primitive man - as a rule, in the form of a stone “giant stone”. The purpose of the menhir stone is presumably cult, but it can also be dedicated to the memory of ancestors (ritual).

The ancient monument - the menhir - is located in the west of the region in the Kingisepp district. I was there to visit source of the Virgin Mary near the village of Geogievsky - next to Pillovo, which he visited before. On the other side of the railway, a landmark is indicated on the map -"menhir - stone".

**The map is presented:***Organic Maps, offline maps and GPS navigator - Open maps from the community for travelers, tourists and cyclists. License: Apache-2.0.

To get to the menhir, you need to move along the railway by car for about 800-1200 meters, then you need to walk along the field 400 meters to the east. The stone is not visible either from the highway or from the railway, and from the country road it is barely visible. Dimensions: height of the stone from the base is about 3-4 meters, width and depth - 5 and 4 meters (by eye).

I found myself at the Kikhtolka railway station already at sunset, but the day of July 30, 2025 was initially cloudy. But in the evening, clearings and gaps appeared in the clouds. When the direct rays of the sun fall, a vertical line is visible connecting the base of the stone and its top. Perhaps, thus, with the help of a vertical stripe, ancient people wanted to convey that their ancestors came from somewhere in the sky?
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The stone seems to consist of several parts, then assembled together.
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At the base on the right, i.e. on the southern side it can be seen that the stone lies on another stone, which is placed at the base. In this place a small canopy is formed, like in a dolmen.

If you look at the stone from the north side, then at sunset you get the impression that you can see an eye on the obelisk looking towards the sunset.
It’s as if the giant is looking to the West, following the evening Sun.
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Silhouette of a menhir stone in backlight. (The photo can be enlarged by pressing, zoomed in by holding one finger:).

Another photo of the menhir-stone (The photo can be enlarged by pressing, zoomed in by holding one finger::)

A fragment showing the mechanical structure - the components of the menhir stone (The photo can be enlarged by pressing, zoomed in by holding one finger:):

View of menhir stone from the southwestern side (The photo can be enlarged by pressing, zoomed in by holding one finger:):

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