Menhir de Champ-Dolent

Coordinates: 48°32′06″N 1°44′21″W / 48.5350°N 1.73917°W / 48.5350; -1.73917
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Menhir de Champ-Dolent
Menhir de Champ-Dolent is located in Brittany
Menhir de Champ-Dolent
Shown within Brittany
Menhir de Champ-Dolent is located in France
Menhir de Champ-Dolent
Menhir de Champ-Dolent (France)
LocationBrittany
Coordinates48°32′06″N 1°44′21″W / 48.5350°N 1.73917°W / 48.5350; -1.73917
TypeMenhir
History
Periods5th millennium BC

The Menhir de Champ-Dolent (French: [meniʁ ʃɑ̃ dɔlɑ̃]; Breton: Maen-hir dolenn) is a menhir, or upright standing stone, located in a field outside the town of Dol-de-Bretagne. It is the second largest standing stone in Brittany and is over 9 metres high.

Location

The Menhir du Champ-Dolent is 2 kilometres (1 mile) south of Dol-de-Bretagne in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine.[1][2] It is in a small picnic area fenced off among the fields near the D795 road.[3][4]

Description

The menhir is the second tallest of Brittany's standing stones.[1] Its height above ground is between 9.3 and 9.5 metres (about 31 feet).[5] It is made of pinkish granite,[4] quarried about 2.5 mi (4.0 km) away,[6] and has an estimated weight of around 100 tonnes.[5] It is oval in shape with a smooth surface.[2] A cross was once placed on top to Christianize it.[7] It is not precisely dated, but recent scholarship suggests that Brittany's menhirs were erected c. 5000–4000 BC.[8]

It has been registered as a

French Ministry of Culture since 1889.[9]

In folklore

According to legend, the menhir rose from the ground to separate two feuding brothers who were on the point of killing each other.[3][7] This legend is said to account for the name "Champ Dolent" which means "Field of Sorrow".[1] In reality, the word dolent is more likely to derive from Breton dolenn ("meadow").[10]

Another legend states that the menhir is slowly sinking into the ground, and the world will end when it disappears altogether.[3]

According to tradition, in the year 560 Chlothar I, King of the Franks, is said to have met his rebel son, Chram, here.[11]

See also

References

External links

Media related to Menhir du Champ Dolent at Wikimedia Commons