La Belle Roche
The menhir La Belle Roche ( German "Beautiful Rock" - also called Pierre à la Demoiselle) is located south of the hamlet of Trufaudière, west of Culey-le-Patry and east of Cauville in the Calvados department in Normandy in France .
The approximately 5.3 m long and 2.7 m wide menhir lies at the lower end of a narrow, wooded valley on the banks of the Herbion, a tributary of the Orne . Its thickness varies between 0.7 and 0.85 m. It is made of slate with deep cuts on the edge. Before its fall, in 1840, it was considered the largest menhir in the Calvados.
The La Belle Roche menhir has been classified as a Monument historique since 1953 .
Legends
According to tradition, a treasure was hidden under the stone. It was thrown off balance by treasure hunters, then overthrown by the owner in hopes of finding the treasure. It is also said that the menhir turned on itself a few times on Christmas Eve and did not come to rest until the first cockcrow from the nearby courtyard.
- La Belle Roche
literature
- Vincent Carpentier, Emmanuel Ghesquiére, Cyril Marcigny: Archéologie en Normandie . Edition Quest-France, Rennes 2007, ISBN 978-2-7373-4164-9 , ( Collection Histoire ).
Web links
- Description Engl. and pictures
- Entry no.PA00111273 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
Coordinates: 48 ° 56 ′ 58.9 ″ N , 0 ° 33 ′ 5 ″ W.