Camp des Salles, désigné sous le nom Goarem-ar-Salud
MonumentHidden Treasure
Camp des Salles, désigné sous le nom Goarem-ar-Salud, located in Locronan (Département 29), is a ancient remains built in Antiquity. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Antiquity
- Location
- Locronan, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.0987, -4.1938
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090075
On the outskirts of Locronan, Goarem-ar-Salud hides the ghosts of an ancient camp beneath its dense grass: circular embankments, age-old ditches and a Breton place name steeped in mystery.
History
Perched in the rolling countryside of Finistère, a stone's throw from the medieval market town of Locronan, the Camp des Salles - known locally by the Breton name of Goarem-ar-Salud, literally meaning "the wood of salvation" - is one of the most intriguing archaeological sites in inland Brittany. Listed as a Historic Monument twice over, in 1963 and 1965, it bears witness to human occupation dating back to Antiquity, in a region where the Armorican substratum has favoured the establishment of defensive camps since the first centuries BC. What makes this site truly singular is the superimposition of temporalities: where geographers and archaeologists see a camp of Gallo-Roman or pre-Roman tradition, Breton popular memory has embroidered a toponymy charged with spirituality. The name "Goarem-ar-Salud" evokes a place of refuge or protection, anchoring this site in the collective imagination well beyond its mere archaeological reality. This duality between scientific fact and living legend is the hallmark of the great Breton sites. Here, the visitor experience is resolutely contemplative. The earthen levees, sunken ditches and natural buttresses can be read in the landscape for those who know how to look, as you wander freely in an open space overlooking the hills of Menez Lokorn. The low-angled light of the morning or evening forcefully sculpts the relief of the land, revealing the geometry of the enclosure that the centuries have not entirely erased. The immediate proximity of Locronan, one of the most beautiful villages in France, makes this an exceptional place to visit. High altitude forests, open moorland and granite architecture form a natural setting in which the Camp des Salles takes on its full meaning: that of a territory inhabited, defended and handed down from generation to generation since the dawn of our history.
Architecture
The Camp des Salles belongs to the category of ditched and banked enclosures, a type of defensive structure typical of the late Iron Age and early Gallo-Roman period in Armorica. Its general morphology follows the principle of the curvilinear enclosure: one or more ditches dug into the local schistose or granite bedrock, with the spoil forming an inner embankment serving as a rampart. This technique, known as murus gallicus in its most elaborate forms, made it possible to quickly build effective defences without recourse to masonry. The size of the enclosure, estimated at several hectares, places the Salles camp in the category of medium-sized camps with a defensive and perhaps administrative role, as distinct from the large oppida that served as genuine urban centres. The site was built on a gentle but dominant slope, typical of the Finistère bocage, and was designed for a specific military purpose: visual control of the surrounding area, access to nearby water and integration into a network of sites communicating by signals. The materials used to build the site are exclusively natural: earth, uncut local stone and wood, the latter having left no visible traces on the surface. The current state of the site, covered in heathland and woodland vegetation, conceals a topography that is still visible to the trained eye: the undulations of the land, the depressions corresponding to the ancient ditches and the slight relief of the embankments form a veritable archaeological palimpsest in the Armorican landscape.
Related Figures
Les Osismes — peuple gaulois occupant le Finistère actuel, premiers utilisateurs supposés du site avant la conquête romaineJules César — dont les campagnes en Armorique (56 av. J.-C.) ont directement influencé le destin des camps retranchés de la régionLes moines de Locronan — communauté religieuse médiévale qui a probablement contribué à la christianisation de la toponymie du site via le nom Goarem-ar-SaludAndré Malraux — ministre des Affaires culturelles lors du premier classement MH en 1963, sous l'autorité duquel la politique de protection des sites archéologiques bretons fut renforcée
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Camp des Salles, désigné sous le nom Goarem-ar-Salud located?
Camp des Salles, désigné sous le nom Goarem-ar-Salud is located in Locronan, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Camp des Salles, désigné sous le nom Goarem-ar-Salud built?
Camp des Salles, désigné sous le nom Goarem-ar-Salud dates back to a period built during Antiquity.
Is Camp des Salles, désigné sous le nom Goarem-ar-Salud open to visitors?
Camp des Salles, désigné sous le nom Goarem-ar-Salud is currently closed to visitors.