Allée couverte de Coët Correc
MonumentHidden Treasure
Allée couverte de Coët Correc, located in Mûr-de-Bretagne (Département 22), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Mûr-de-Bretagne, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.2227, -3.0189
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089348
A Neolithic vestige buried in the moors of Mûr-de-Bretagne, the covered alleyway at Coët Correc reveals a 5,000-year-old burial chamber, a striking testimony to Breton megalithic genius.
History
In the heart of the hills of central Brittany, a stone's throw from Lac de Guerlédan, the covered alleyway of Coët Correc emerges from the vegetation like a silent message from the depths of time. This megalithic monument, listed as a Historic Monument since 1956, belongs to a funerary and ritual tradition that flourished in Armorica between the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, making Brittany one of the richest megalithic territories in Western Europe. The covered walkway differs from other major megalithic types - corridor dolmens, burial mounds - in its elongated shape and upright side slabs that form a veritable mineral corridor. At Coët Correc, the monument contains several granite orthostats, the stone giants that Neolithic communities patiently erected, adjusted and covered with massive covering slabs. Together, they form an accessible interior space, oriented according to an astronomical or symbolic logic that archaeologists are still trying to decipher. Visiting this site requires a certain slowness. Far from the crowds and excessive tourist facilities, Coët Correc offers an authentic, almost intimate experience. The stones covered in grey and green lichen, the light filtered through the ferns and oaks, the light humidity of the Breton air: everything contributes to a direct and unmediatised encounter with a deep past. Photography enthusiasts will find the low-angled morning light ideal for revealing the grain and volume of the granite. The monument's appeal is enhanced by its geographical setting. The commune of Mûr-de-Bretagne, nestling in the Côtes-d'Armor department, is surrounded by moorland and forest landscapes that have hardly changed in outline since the time of the builders. Nearby Lac de Guerlédan offers an exceptional natural setting that invites you to combine an archaeological visit with a day out in the great outdoors. Coët Correc forms part of a circuit exploring the megalithic heritage of Central Brittany, less famous than Morbihan but just as fascinating for those who know how to look.
Architecture
The covered walkway at Coët Correc belongs to the family of megalithic monuments with elongated chambers, characteristic of the Armorican Late Neolithic. Like its Breton counterparts, it is made up of a series of orthostats - vertically-standing granite slabs - arranged in two parallel rows forming the side walls of a corridor. These slabs are topped by horizontal covering tables, the capstones, whose considerable weight ensures the structural stability of the whole by gravity alone. The total length of the monument, typical of this type of construction in central Brittany, is estimated at between five and ten metres, with an internal width of around one to one-and-a-half metres. The only material used is granite from the Armorican Massif, an abundant rock of exceptional hardness, which explains the remarkable preservation of the slabs after five millennia. The stone surfaces bear the marks of time: grey and orange lichens, moss, natural micro-cracks caused by freeze-thaw cycles. No engraved ornamentation has been formally identified on this monument, although discreet petroglyphs - crook-shaped motifs, axes, cupules - have been attested on comparable covered walkways in the region. The orientation of the monument, probably set on a significant solar or lunar axis as is customary in the Armorican megalithic tradition, lent a cosmological dimension to the funerary structure. The chevet slab, which closes off the aisle at the end opposite the entrance, and the possible existence of a threshold slab or access porthole are recurring architectural features in this type of monument, suggesting a rigorous rather than empirical architectural design.
Related Figures
Communautés néolithiques de Bretagne centrale (bâtisseurs anonymes, vers 3500-2500 av. J.-C.)Prosper de Mérimée (inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, pionnier de l'inventaire du patrimoine préhistorique français, XIXe siècle)Zacharie Le Rouzic (archéologue morbihannais, spécialiste des mégalithes armoricains, début XXe siècle)Jacques Briard (préhistorien breton, spécialiste du Néolithique et de l'Âge du Bronze armoricain, XXe siècle)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Allée couverte de Coët Correc located?
Allée couverte de Coët Correc is located in Mûr-de-Bretagne, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Allée couverte de Coët Correc open to visitors?
Allée couverte de Coët Correc is currently closed to visitors.