Menhirs of Kergadiou
 
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Location of the menhirs in Brittany |
The two menhirs of Kergadiou are among the largest menhirs in Brittany and therefore all of France . They are located northeast of the mouth of the Aber Ildut , in the municipality of Plourin in the Finistère department .
Menhirs
The standing menhir is an almost symmetrically shaped and perfectly smoothed stone with a flattened tip and a height of approx. 8.75 m and a weight of approx. 100 t.
About 80 m to the northeast is its about 10.5 m long neighbor, which is not (anymore) upright, but rises from the ground at a very flat angle. Its extremely flat top is smoothed while the underside is rough, which has led to the suggestion that it may never have stood and was left unfinished. According to an alternative consideration, it stood upright, was smoothed on one side (perhaps in preparation for further scratching), but it fell over but did not break. Why a - basically simple - recovery failed is an unanswered question. The menhir would probably have been raised to the same height as its neighbor.
Two large menhirs a short distance apart are unusual (exception: alignment of the Grand Menhir Brisé near Locmariaquer).
Others
About 10 km (as the crow flies) southeast is the menhir of Kerloas .
See also
literature
- Jacques Briard : Mégalithes de Bretagne. Éditions Gissert, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-87747-065-2 .
Web links
- Menhir de Kergadiou in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- Menhirs of Kergadiou - Photos and information (English)
Coordinates: 48 ° 29 ′ 36.9 " N , 4 ° 43 ′ 30" W.