Rhuys Peninsula

Rhuys Peninsula
Geographical location
Coordinates	47 ° 31 '5 "  N , 2 ° 46' 54"  W Coordinates: 47 ° 31 '5 "  N , 2 ° 46' 54"  W.
Waters 1	Atlantic Ocean

The Rhuys Peninsula (also Arzon Peninsula - French Presqu'île de Rhuys ) is located in the Morbihan department in Brittany in France and separates the Atlantic from the Gulf of Morbihan ( Golfe du Morbihan , Breton "small sea"). It extends from east to west and narrows at the west end. The main towns on the peninsula are Arzon , Sarzeau , Saint Armel and Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys , with some adding Le Hézo and Noyalo . The peninsula measures 25 km in length and 1.5 to 6 km in width. Its area is approximately 105 square kilometers.

The Rhuys Peninsula is one of the southern foothills of the Armorican Massif , which also includes the Montagnes Noires , the Landes de Lanvaux , the Sillon de Bretagne and the offshore islands Belle-Île , Houat , Hoëdic and Île Dumet . The highest mountains on the peninsula are no higher than fifty meters. They essentially consist of crystalline slate and granite formed during the Variscan orogeny around 330 million years ago . Geomorphologically there is a strong contrast between the south coast directly facing the Atlantic, where there are alternating long sandy beaches and steeply sloping rocks, and the side facing the Gulf of Morbihan, where the coast is flat and resembles a Wadden Sea at low tide .

Menhir from Kermaillard

Suscinio moated castle

The flat inland coast is interrupted here and there by salt marshes and salt marshes. The Atlantic coast, on the other hand, is steep, and Caesar is said to have descended from the 15 meter high Tumulus de Tumiac in 56 BC. Observed the naval battle against the Venetians , which he described in De Bello Gallico .

The peninsula was already a place steeped in history, where some of the important prehistoric monuments are located. The menhir of Kermaillard protrudes from it, which lay overturned for a long time and only revealed its incisions of a crescent moon and a stylized mother goddess after it was erected .

The Kerlévenan Castle , the castle Suscinio from the 13th century and the Romanesque church of St. Gildas-de-Rhuys are important historical attractions. At Kerners (a little east of Arzon) there is an old tide mill .

Prehistoric monuments

The restored Petit Mont

• the dolmens
  • Bilgroix
  • Grah-Niol
  • Kerno
  • Lannek-er-Men
  • Men Maria

• the tumuli
  • de Tumiac
  • Le Petit Mont

• Menhir
  • Kermaillard

Individual evidence

1. ^ Carine Cartier: Structure de l'unité de Saint-Georges-sur-Loire et du domaine ligérien (Massif Ar-moricain). Implications géodynamiques pour la chaîne hercynienne. Thèse présentée à l'Université d'Orléans pour obtenir le grade de Docteur, Géologie appliquée, Université d'Orléans, 2002, p. 27. (French).

literature

• Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European cult sites of the Stone Age (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .

Web links

• Megalithic selection of the Rhuys Peninsula , with numerous photographs (French)
• Official website of the Gulf of Morbihan (French)
• Buildings (French)