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Monolith
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A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains, or a single large piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument or building. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock.
In architecture, the term has considerable overlap with megalith, which is normally used for prehistory, and may be used in the contexts of rock-cut architecture that remains attached to solid rock, as in monolithic church, or for exceptionally large stones such as obelisks, statues, monolithic columns or large architraves, that may have been moved a considerable distance after quarrying. It may also be used of large glacial erratics moved by natural forces.
The word derives, via the Latin monolithus, from the Ancient Greek word μονόλιθος (monolithos), from μόνος ("one" or "single") and λίθος ("stone").
Geological monoliths
Large, well-known monoliths include:
Africa
Aso Rock, Nigeria
Ben Amera, Mauritania
Brandberg Mountain, Namibia
Sibebe, Swaziland
Zuma Rock, Nigeria
Mount Lubiri, Angola
Mount Poi, Kenya
Great Sphinx of Giza
Antarctica
Scullin monolith
Asia
Bellary, India
Bhongir, Telangana, India
Madhugiri Betta, Karnataka, India
Mount Kelam, Indonesia
Mount Pico de Loro, Philippines
Mount Pulumbato, Philippines
Sangla Hill, Pakistan
Savandurga, Karnataka, India
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Yana, Karnataka, India
Australia
Bald Rock, near Tenterfield, New South Wales
Mount Coolum, Queensland
Mount Wudinna, South Australia
Pine Mountain, Victoria
Uluru / Ayers Rock, Northern Territory
Europe
Kalamos, Anafi, Greece
Katskhi pillar, Georgia
Logan Rock, Treen, Cornwall, England
Penyal d'Ifac, Calpe, Valencian Community, Spain
La Peña de Arcos, Arcos de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain
Peña de los Enamorados, Antequera, Andalusia, Spain (a World Heritage Site)
Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar
Rock of Monaco, Monaco-Ville, Monaco
United States
Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah
Beacon Rock, Columbia River Gorge, Washington
Bottleneck Peak and Moon, Sids Mountain, Utah
Castle Rock, Pineville, West Virginia
Chimney Rock, Bayard, Nebraska
Chimney Rock, Chimney Rock, North Carolina
Courthouse and Jail Rocks, Bridgeport, Nebraska
Devils Tower, Wyoming
El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California
Enchanted Rock, Llano County, Texas
Frog Woman Rock, Mendocino County, California
Great White Throne, Zion National Park, Utah
Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California
Haystack Rock, Clatsop County, Oregon
Looking Glass Rock, Transylvania County, North Carolina
Morro Rock, Morro Bay, California
Scotts Bluff National Monument, Gering, Nebraska
Shiprock, San Juan County, New Mexico
Stone Mountain, Stone Mountain, Georgia
Tooth of Time, Cimarron, New Mexico
Wolf Rock, Linn County, Oregon
Canada
Stawamus Chief, Squamish, British Columbia
Mexico
La Peña de Bernal, Queretaro; claimed to be the world's third largest monolith.
South America
El Peñón, also known as El Peñol Stone or simply La Piedra, Colombia
Pão de Açúcar, Brazil
Pedra da Gávea, Brazil the world's largest monolith on the coastline
Pedra da Galinha Choca, Brazil
Torres del Paine, Chile
Extraterrestrial
Phobos monolith on Phobos
Monumental monoliths
A structure which has been excavated as a unit from a surrounding matrix or outcropping of rock.
Aztec calendar stone "Stone of the Sun"
The Church of Saint George in Lalibela, Ethiopia, is one of a number of monolithic churches in Ethiopia
Coyolxauhqui Stone another aztec monolith
Ellora Caves - UNESCO World Heritage Site
Great Sphinx of Giza "The Egyptian Sphinx"
Gomateswara or Lord Bahubali at Sravanabelagola, Karnataka
Manzanar National Historic Landmark, USA
Obelisks - see this article for a list
Ogham Stone, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland
Runestones
Standing stones
Stelae
Stone circle
Stone of the Pregnant Woman, Baalbek
Stonehenge contains several
The Longstones or the Devil's Quoits, Avebury, Wiltshire, England
Vijayanagara Empire medieval South Indian carved examples