Location
State: Latvia
Region: Riga
County: Tukums
Parish: Zentene
Other references to the location
In the W side foundations of Līdumnieki residential house
Coordinates
lat=57.1236111111, lon=23.0475
57° 7′ 24″ N, 23° 2′ 50″ E
Description
When inspecting the Līdumnieki Devil’s Foot Stone in 1976, it was found immured in the foundation of the Līdumnieki residential house to the right from the porch; the footprint sign had been left in the outward edge and was well visible. At the end of 1980s the house was built anew and the stone was immured in the W side foundation of the new building so that the footprint is bound outwards. This situation was documented in 1996. At the moment of the inspection there was a lack of information on the building reconstruction therefore the stone was not recorded. The Līdumnieki Devil’s Foot Stone has been widely described and measured in earlier times. The stone was blasted already at the beginning of 1920s, however, the fragment with the footprint has luckily survived and immured in the foundation of the old Līdumnieki residential house. The initial location of the footprint stone was at the side of the Kolterkalns Hill valley about 200 m to the south from the Līdumnieki manor. The big stone with approximately one cubic metre volume had not just a human footprint, but also those of several animals – as if those of a dog, cat or hare. After blasting the stone, another – bigger – stone turned out to be below this one. Nearby the footprint stone there were two other big stones. The Līdumnieki Devil’s Foot Stone might have been mentioned in the book by F. Krūze Necrolivonica already in 1842. The Līdumnieki Devil’s Foot Stone appears in many legends about the Devil’s actions in carrying and losing the stone. There are still other concrete sites nearby mentioned in the legends: Turķi homestead, Hell Corner, Jāņupe River, Kolterkalns Hill, Dzirciems village etc. The Līdumnieki Devil’s Foot Stone is a typical footprint stone which has once been a typical element of the ancient sacred landscape.
Narrative
See attachment
Attraction
Unattractive
Availability
In the foundations of a private house
Infrastructure, management, facilities
Access to the very yard of the residential house, no other facilities.
Local info
None
Capacity
0 – 9
Publicity
Unknown
Legal Status
Private
Comments
Dzirciems Līdumnieki homestead is well looked after, however, there are no permanent residents and is used as a holiday house. The residential house has been fully rebuilt and it seems that even the contour of its foundation has changed. There are no public directions towards the Devil’s Foot Stone and it seems that such a location where the stone with the footprint is immured in the foundation of the house should not be popularized.
Attachments
