Dolmen de la Madeleine (Lessac)
The Dolmen de la Madeleine (also called Dolmen de Sainte-Madeleine) is a Christianized megalithic monument on the island of Saint-Germain in the Vienne River in Lessac in the Charente department in France that has been converted into a chapel. In France, dolmen is the generic term for Neolithic megalithic structures of all kinds (see: French nomenclature ).
The dolmen, of which the large ceiling slab of 4.5 by 3.6 meters has largely been preserved, rests on four pillars from the 11th century with a distance of 2.4 meters at the front and 2.15 meters at the rear. They consist of a cylindrical shaft that stands on a rectangular base and has a rounded capital . Between the pillars there is a stone slab on the floor, which is the remainder of an altar .
The original dolmen of unknown type (presumably a dolmen angevin) and unknown location was converted into a cemetery chapel in the Middle Ages (a medieval burial was found in 1878). The dolmen was named Tombeau de la Dame, Pierre-Madeleine, Pierre Couvreau and Chapelle-dolmen du petit Lessac. In the 19th century the square was converted into a cabaret with wooden tables and benches.
The dolmen, located on private land, was listed as a Monument Historique in 1900 .
Legend has it that Saint Madeleine left her footprint on a rock in the Vienne when she jumped onto the island with the capstone on her head and the other stones in her apron. Their sheep also left marks.
literature
- Volker Pingel : Megalithic groups and their archaeological differentiation. A review. In: Karl W. Beinhauer et al. (Hrsg.): Studies on megalithics. (State of research and ethnoarchaeological perspectives) = The megalithic phenomenon . Beier and Beran, Weissbach 1999, ISBN 3-930036-36-3 ( Contributions to the Prehistory and Early History of Central Europe 21), pp. 37–50.
- Le Nord-Charente au Néolithique moyen et récent (3500–2900 av. J.-C.): enceintes fossoyées, sépultures mégalithiques et territoires. General Council of the Charente
Coordinates: 46 ° 2 ′ 42 " N , 0 ° 40 ′ 52" E