Menhir de la Truie
MonumentHidden Treasure
Menhir de la Truie, located in Sarzeau (Département 56), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Sarzeau, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.4960, -2.6733
- Mérimée Reference
- PA56000135
A stone sentinel that has stood guard over the Rhuys peninsula since Neolithic times, the Menhir de la Truie has stood guard over the land around Sarzeau for over 5,000 years. It will be listed as a Historic Monument in 2023.
History
In the heart of the Rhuys peninsula, in Brittany's Morbihan region, the Menhir de la Truie stands like a fragment of time standing still, planted in the Armorican earth long before history learned to write itself. This granite monolith, fashioned by the Neolithic communities that populated these Atlantic shores over five millennia ago, belongs to the constellation of standing stones that have made Morbihan one of the world's leading megalithic sites. What makes the Menhir de la Truie so special is above all its location in an exceptional area. The Rhuys peninsula, bathed by the Gulf of Morbihan to the north and the Atlantic to the south, is home to a remarkable density of prehistoric remains. In this landscape of moorland, hedged farmland and jagged coastline, the menhir occupies a position that was never insignificant for Neolithic builders: a territorial marker, a cosmic landmark or a ritual focal point, perhaps all three at once. To approach the Menhir de la Truie is to venture into a time that is radically different from our own. Its inclusion on the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments in July 2023 confirms the long-awaited official recognition of this block of stone carved with the harshness of Neolithic tools. Its raw silhouette, weathered by millennia of rain and sea winds, imposes a respectful silence. The surrounding setting adds to the emotion of the visit. The countryside around Sarzeau is typically Bas-Breton, with open fields alternating with hedgerows and old sunken lanes. In the distance, the iridescent waters of the Gulf of Morbihan are a reminder that this region has been a crossroads for shipping and trade since prehistoric times. To come here is to understand why Neolithic man chose this end of the world to plant his most enduring stones.
Architecture
The Menhir de la Truie is a monolith of Armorican granite, a plutonic rock characteristic of the Breton subsoil, recognisable by its grainy texture and shades ranging from light grey to bluish grey. Like the vast majority of menhirs in Morbihan, it has a tapered or slightly trapezoidal shape, wider at the base to ensure stability. Its unpolished surface bears the marks of time: lichen, grey and orange moss, wind and salt erosion due to its proximity to the coast. Although the precise dimensions of the menhir are not published in the official sources available, the isolated menhirs on the Rhuys peninsula are generally between 1.5 and 3.5 metres high above ground, with a buried portion representing around a third of the total length of the block. The base of the stone is anchored in a Neolithic pit, a universal technique for all megaliths erected during this period in Armorique. From a typological point of view, the Menhir de la Truie belongs to the category of isolated menhirs, as distinct from alignments (such as those at Carnac) and cromlechs (circular enclosures). This individuality gives it a special presence in the landscape, with no known additional architectural features. The absence of any visible engravings or cupules on its surface brings it closer to the so-called "aniconic" menhirs, rough and powerful in their absolute bareness.
Related Figures
Les bâtisseurs néolithiques de la presqu'île de Rhuys (4500-2500 av. J.-C.) — communautés agraires organisées à l'origine de l'érection du menhirLes archéologues du Service Régional de l'Archéologie de Bretagne — responsables de l'inventaire et de l'étude des mégalithes morbihannaisProsper Mérimée (1803-1870) — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, premier grand défenseur du patrimoine mégalithique breton en FranceZacharie Le Rouzic (1864-1939) — archéologue carnaçais qui réalisa les premiers inventaires systématiques des menhirs du MorbihanJames Miln (1819-1881) — archéologue écossais dont les fouilles à Carnac posèrent les bases de la connaissance du mégalithisme morbihannais
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Menhir de la Truie located?
Menhir de la Truie is located in Sarzeau, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Menhir de la Truie open to visitors?
Menhir de la Truie is currently closed to visitors.
