Gran 'Mère du Chimquière
The Gran 'Mère du Chimquière ( German the grandmother of the cemetery ) stands in the cemetery of the medieval church of St Martin, about 2.5 km southwest of Saint Peter Port on the British Channel Island of Guernsey .
The granite statue is 1.65 meters high and was probably originally a menhir , which was reshaped into a female figure with a head and shoulders in Celtic or Roman times. The carvings are typical of a pagan fertility goddess, hence the name La Gran Mere (Eng. "The grandmother"). The originally pagan statue menhir was Christianized by Celtic missionaries in the 6th century.
Newly wed couples still decorate the figure with flowers or put coins on the head of the statue.
Something like that
A similar stone figure stands in the cemetery of the Anglican church Ste Marie de Castel in Castel (guernésiais: Lé Casté ; Cotentin-Norman Sainte-Marie-du-Câtel ), about 3 kilometers away in the center of the island. It was found under the floor of the church choir in 1878. 49 ° 27 '27.9 " N , 2 ° 34' 20.7" W.
literature
- Peter Johnston: A Short History of Guernsey , 6th edition, Guernsey Society, 2014, ISBN 978-0-9928860-0-4 .
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 26 '17 " N , 2 ° 33' 16.6" W.