Cromlech de Kergenan
MonumentHidden Treasure
Cromlech de Kergenan, located in Île-aux-Moines (Département 56), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Île-aux-Moines, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.5907, -2.8514
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091302
A megalithic circle standing on the Île-aux-Moines, in the heart of the Gulf of Morbihan, the Kergenan cromlech is one of the rare Breton cromlechs to have been preserved, a striking testimony to Neolithic spirituality dating back over 5,000 years.
History
In the heart of the Île-aux-Moines, this pearl of the Gulf of Morbihan bathed in Atlantic light, the Kergenan cromlech emerges from the vegetation like a message addressed to the living by Neolithic builders. Its standing stones, arranged in an arc or partial ellipse, form one of the few surviving complexes of this type in southern Brittany, in a region that is exceptionally rich in megaliths. What sets Kergenan apart from the mass of megalithic sites in Brittany is above all the singularity of its island location. Isolated on an island accessible only by ferry, the monument benefits from natural protection, which has contributed to its relative preservation. The menhirs that make up the cromlech, made of local schist and granite, emerge from a ground covered in heather and gorse, creating a poetic dialogue between stone and wild vegetation characteristic of the Morbihan hinterland. The visitor experience is intimate and almost melancholy, a far cry from the crowds at Carnac. You move freely between the upright orthostats, some of which are over a metre high, trying to mentally reconstruct the original geometry of the circle, which has been partially filled in over the centuries. The silence is broken only by the cry of seagulls and the breath of the sea wind - a total immersion in an almost palpable Neolithic. The island setting amplifies the sacred nature of the site. On this four-kilometre-long island, covered in pine and holm oak trees, the cromlech stands in a landscape shaped by the sea and protected from urban development. The Gulf of Morbihan, considered by some researchers to have been a vast ceremonial basin in the Neolithic period, offers here one of its most discreet and moving testimonies.
Architecture
The Kergenan cromlech belongs to the category of megalithic monuments of the "circle of stones" or cromlech type, a term of Welsh and Breton origin designating a group of orthostats arranged in a circular or elliptical configuration. The site features an arc of menhirs whose original layout probably formed a closed ellipse or a complete circle, as evidenced by the alignments still visible and the locations of stones that have disappeared or fallen. The blocks that make up the site are made of bluish schist and granite, the dominant rocks in the substratum of Île-aux-Moines and Morbihan in general. They vary in size, with the largest blocks reaching a height of around one to one and a half metres above ground, with a base buried at a comparable depth, using the classic Neolithic settlement technique. The surface of the stones bears the marks of time - grey and yellow lichens, wind and sea erosion - but no engraved ornamentation has been formally recorded on this site, unlike the monuments at Gavrinis or the Great Broken Menhir at Locmariaquer. The orientation of the monument, as is often the case with Atlantic cromlechs, seems to take into account astronomical reference points linked to the rising or setting of the sun on solstices, a hypothesis that is consistent with all megalithic practices in the Gulf of Morbihan. The absence of a covered structure (no associated dolmen) classifies Kergenan as a monument with an essentially ceremonial or commemorative purpose, distinct from the megalithic burials that make up the other major family of Armorican megalithism.
Related Figures
Prosper de Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments historiques, pionnier du recensement des mégalithes bretons au XIXe siècleJames Miln — archéologue écossais ayant conduit des fouilles fondatrices dans le Morbihan dans les années 1870-1880Zacharie Le Rouzic — archéologue carnaçois, auteur d'inventaires essentiels des mégalithes du golfe du Morbihan au début du XXe siècleAuguste Penaud — érudit breton du XIXe siècle ayant contribué à la documentation des sites mégalithiques insulaires du Morbihan
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Cromlech de Kergenan located?
Cromlech de Kergenan is located in Île-aux-Moines, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Cromlech de Kergenan open to visitors?
Cromlech de Kergenan is currently closed to visitors.