Trovants, the “Living Stones”

There are strange places across the world. But these places make our planet such a wonderful and unique place. Among its many oddities and beauties, Earth has living stones. Although not alive, there are geological features in Europe that have the ability to grow and move. It’s a natural phenomenon, and the most famous examples are located in Romania. Located in the town of Costesti, these odd rocks are dubbed living stones but are locally known as Trovants. These strange, extraordinary, weird rocks seem almost out of a Hollywood movie; they can grow and multiply and essentially move.

Trovants—living stones—are made out of a stone core, but their outer layers are made out of a kind of sand, which forms around the inner core, acting as a shell. It’s their outer shell that causes the stones to grow essentially. Their name derives from the German words Sandstein Konkretion, which means sandstone concretion or cemented sand. These stones can grow to a few millimeters but as large as ten meters in diameter. Because of their ability to “grow,” these geological weirdos are dubbed the living stones, although different people call them by different names. In Romania, the stones are called Trovants, a term coined by naturalist Gh. M. Murgoci, in his work “The Tertiary in Oltenia,” where he refers to the odd geological features. Since they are so unusual, people visit Romania to see them.

You can take a Trovant, place it in your garden, and see it grow. After rainfall, the trovants are thought to begin growing and multiplying. How fast the rock grows is an enigma....<<<Read More>>>...