Monolith

A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monoliths are volcanic plugs, solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano.

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, from   meaning "one" or "single" and   meaning "stone".

Geological monoliths
Large, well-known monoliths include:

Africa

 * Aso Rock, Nigeria
 * Ben Amera, Mauritania
 * Brandberg Mountain, Namibia
 * Sibebe, Eswatini
 * Zuma Rock, Nigeria
 * Mount Lubiri, Angola
 * Mount Poi, Kenya
 * Great Sphinx of Giza
 * Oruku Rock, Ososo, Edo State, Nigeria

Antarctica

 * Scullin monolith

Asia

 * Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia
 * Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
 * Bellary Fort, Bellary, India
 * Bhongir, Telangana, India
 * Madhugiri Betta, Karnataka, India
 * Kailasa temple, Ellora. Maharashtra, India
 * Namakkal Fort Namakkal, Tamilnadu India,
 * Mount Kelam, Indonesia
 * Mount Pico de Loro, Philippines
 * Mount Pulumbato, Philippines
 * Sangla Hill, Pakistan
 * Savandurga, Karnataka, India
 * Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
 * Yana, Karnataka, India
 * Gilbert Hill, Mumbai, India
 * Rockfort, Trichy, India
 * Ekasila, Warangal, India

Australia

 * Bald Rock, near Tenterfield, New South Wales
 * Mount Augustus (Burringurrah), Western Australia (NOTE: this is not actually monolith as popularly claimed, but, rather, a monocline)
 * Mount Coolum, Queensland
 * Mount Wudinna, South Australia
 * Pine Mountain, Victoria
 * Uluru, Northern Territory

Europe



 * Kalamos, Anafi, Greece
 * Katskhi pillar, Georgia
 * Levski G., Sofia, Bulgaria
 * Logan Rock, Treen, Cornwall, England
 * Monolithe de Sardières, Sollières-Sardières, France
 * Penyal d'Ifac, Calpe, Valencian Community, Spain
 * Peña de Arcos, Arcos de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain
 * Peña de los Enamorados, Antequera, Andalusia, Spain (a World Heritage Site)
 * Rauk, Sweden
 * Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar
 * Rock of Monaco, Monaco-Ville, Monaco
 * Rock Cappa, San Luca, Italy

United States

 * Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah
 * Beacon Rock, Columbia River Gorge, Washington
 * Bottleneck Peak, 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
 * Quincy Quarries Reservation, Quincy, Massachusetts
 * Scotts Bluff National Monument, Gering, Nebraska
 * Shiprock, San Juan County, New Mexico
 * Stone Mountain, Stone Mountain, Georgia
 * Stone Mountain, Stone Mountain, North Carolina
 * Tooth of Time, Cimarron, New Mexico
 * Wolf Rock, Linn County, Oregon



Canada

 * Stawamus Chief, Squamish, British Columbia
 * Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Quebec ' ' '

Mexico

 * La Peña de Bernal, Queretaro; claimed to be the world's third-largest monolith
 * Las Piedrotas, near the town of Tapalpa, Jalisco.

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

Outside Earth

 * Phobos monolith on Phobos
 * Mars monolith

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.
 * The vast monoliths which went into the walls of Osaka Castle, Japan.
 * Coyolxauhqui Stone another Aztec monolith
 * Ellora Caves – UNESCO World Heritage Site
 * Great Sphinx of Giza – "The Egyptian Sphinx"
 * Gommateshwara statue of Bahubali at Sravanabelagola, Carnataca, India
 * Obelisks – see this article for a list
 * Ogham stones, inscribed standing stones throughout Ireland
 * Runestones
 * Standing stones
 * Stelae
 * Stone circle
 * Stone of the Pregnant Woman, Baalbek
 * Stonehenge in present-day England
 * The Longstones or the Devil's Quoits, Avebury, Wiltshire, England
 * Architecture of Vijayanagar in present-day south India