Dolmen de la Madeleine
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen de la Madeleine, located in Gennes (Maine-et-Loire), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Gennes, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.3317, -0.2350
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00109121
A Neolithic megalithic vestige standing at the gateway to Gennes, the Dolmen de la Madeleine has been unfurling its tufa slabs under the Anjou sky for over 5,000 years, the silent guardian of a vanished world.
History
In the heart of the Loire Valley, where the Loire and Thouet rivers meet, the Dolmen de la Madeleine stands out as one of the most striking examples of Anjou's megalithic heritage. Emerging from a gently undulating landscape, its great limestone slabs seem to defy time with a quiet assurance, bearing witness to a humanity that, long before cathedrals and castles, knew how to erect monuments destined to stand the test of time. This dolmen is part of the remarkable concentration of megalithic monuments that make the Gennes region one of France's richest in prehistoric monuments. Between the Loire and its tributaries, the Neolithic builders left an exceptional mark here, transforming this land into a veritable open-air museum. The Dolmen de la Madeleine is part of this local tradition, with an architectural presence that commands respect: its massive orthostats, topped by an imposing roof, form a burial chamber whose very sobriety is its grandeur. The visit is first and foremost a sensory experience. To approach the dolmen is to physically feel the weight of time - the stones that Neolithic hands erected using methods that archaeology is still struggling to fully reconstruct. With your hand resting on the slightly rough limestone, you sense something essential about the continuity of the human presence in this landscape. Photographers and history buffs will appreciate the golden morning or evening light, which accentuates the textures and volumes of the megaliths. The surrounding area adds to the timeless atmosphere. The area around Gennes, with its wine-growing hillsides, troglodytic dwellings and Gallo-Roman heritage, offers a walk through the ages that transforms a visit to the dolmen into a veritable journey into the historical depths of Anjou. A listed monument since 1930, both protected and precious, it's well worth the diversions.
Architecture
The Dolmen de la Madeleine belongs to the category of single-chamber dolmens, one of the most widespread megalithic forms in Anjou and the Loire basin. Its structure is based on the fundamental constructional principle of megalithism: several orthostats - vertical slabs planted in the ground - support one or more horizontal covering tables, creating a delimited interior space that constituted the burial chamber. The slabs used are made of local limestone, probably tufa or shell limestone typical of Anjou geology, which gives it the off-white to pale ochre hue typical of the megaliths of the Loire Valley. The dimensions of the whole are in keeping with regional standards: a room around two to three metres long inside, with a height under the table of between one and a half and two metres. The covering table, the monument's centrepiece, represents several tonnes of limestone and is the most impressive element of the structure. The orientation of the dolmen, as is often the case with this type of monument, seems to take account of the cardinal points or particular astronomical phenomena, although archaeoastronomical studies on this particular monument have yet to be carried out in depth. The monument's current state of preservation, despite the fact that it has been standing for five millennia, still makes it possible to clearly read its original volume. The mound of earth that probably originally covered the chamber has disappeared, leaving the slabs bare in the landscape - which is the case for the vast majority of French dolmens. This nakedness gives the monument an immediate architectural legibility and a striking sculptural presence.
Related Figures
Bâtisseurs néolithiques anonymes (circa 4000-3000 av. J.-C.) — communautés agricoles du val d'Anjou, artisans et organisateurs de ce chantier mégalithique collectifAbbé Casimir Chevalier (XIXe siècle) — érudit tourangeau ayant contribué au recensement des mégalithes de la région ligérienneGustave Triger — archéologue sarthois du XIXe siècle, pionnier de l'étude des monuments mégalithiques du bassin de la LoireRobert Triger — archéologue et historien ayant catalogué les mégalithes du Maine et de l'Anjou à la fin du XIXe siècle
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen de la Madeleine located?
Dolmen de la Madeleine is located in Gennes, Maine-et-Loire department, Pays de la Loire region, France.
Is Dolmen de la Madeleine open to visitors?
Dolmen de la Madeleine is currently closed to visitors.
