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'The Stone That Returned Home'

Mariehamn, Åland Islands

One man's journey to return a stone to its point of origin after 200,000 years. 

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'The Stone That Returned Home' warwickwandering (Atlas Obscura User)
'The Stone That Returned Home'
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'The Stone That Returned Home'
'The Stone That Returned Home' warwickwandering (Atlas Obscura User)
'The Stone That Returned Home'
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The result of one man’s quest to return a rock deposited in the Netherlands back to its rightful home in the Åland Islands after many millennia. This stone is easily accessible on the waterfront in Mariehamn (though the ice can be pretty treacherous around it in winter).

The Stone That Returned Home is a project by Dutch artist Bart Eysink Smeets. After he learned that geologists could pinpoint where the boulders strewn about the Netherlands by ancient glaciers had originally come from, he resolved to bring one back.

Know Before You Go

The Åland Islands themselves are pretty interesting and a geopolitical anomaly and quirk, almost as odd as this rock.


A Swedish-speaking autonomous part of Finland, the Åland Islands have their own parliament, stamps and car number plates.

glaciers stone art outside rocks
Nearby
Bomarsund Fortress
12.68 miles
Märket Lighthouse
31.43 miles
Hermas Homestead Museum
32.71 miles
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