Menhir dit La Roche Carrée
MonumentHidden Treasure
Menhir dit La Roche Carrée, located in Médréac (Département 35), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Médréac, Département 35, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.2906, -2.0627
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090628
Standing in Médréac since the Neolithic period, La Roche Carrée is one of the most intriguing stone sentinels in Ille-et-Vilaine, listed as a Historic Monument since 1929, a silent vestige of an ancient Brittany.
History
In the heart of the Breton bocage, in Médréac, a discreet village in Ille-et-Vilaine, stands La Roche Carrée: a Neolithic menhir whose singular shape - evoked by its name - contrasts with the slender, tapering silhouette of its peers. Planted there several millennia ago by populations whose names we still do not know, this block of granite stands like a motionless witness to a humanity that was already trying to leave its mark on the landscape. What sets La Roche Carrée apart from the countless Breton menhirs is precisely this squat, almost rectilinear profile that has earned it its popular name. Where other standing stones stretch skywards in a point or spindle shape, this one has almost right angles, a crude geometry that raises questions: geological accident or human determination to shape the rock? Archaeologists have chosen to extract the rock by hand, selecting a natural boulder with a marked verticality. A visit to La Roche Carrée is a discreet pilgrimage, far from the crowds that flock to Carnac or Locmariaquer. Here, the experience is intimate. Walkers often arrive along grassy paths bordered by hedgerows, in a silence punctuated only by the wind. The stone gradually comes into view, emerging from the landscape as a matter of course, and the sobriety of the site reinforces its strange presence. The rural setting of Médréac is itself a source of a certain serenity, with moorland and gentle meadows, the monument is part of a land where man and the land have maintained a dialogue for thousands of years. For the photographer, the low-angled light of the late autumn morning or evening reveals the granite texture of the stone, casting dramatic shadows that accentuate its monumental character. Listed as a Historic Monument by decree on 18 September 1929, La Roche Carrée's protection bears witness to the recognised heritage value of this megalith long before the Breton Neolithic became a subject of public fascination. In its ruggedness and durability, it embodies one of the earliest chapters of human history in Brittany.
Architecture
The Roche Carrée is a menhir, a unique standing stone, erected vertically in the ground by Neolithic man. What gives it its popular name is its unusual profile: whereas the vast majority of Breton menhirs have a conical or tapered silhouette, widening at the base and narrowing towards the top, La Roche Carrée has relatively straight angles and an almost quadrangular cross-section, giving the whole thing a squat, massive appearance, almost cut square. The building material is granite, a metamorphic rock that is ubiquitous in the Breton subsoil and characteristic of almost all the megaliths in Ille-et-Vilaine. Its bluish-grey colour, slightly pink in places depending on the local mineralogical composition, has been covered over the centuries with golden-yellow and grey-green crustaceous lichens that bear witness to the monument's longevity. The block was extracted from a nearby natural quarry, exploiting the fracture lines of the granite to create a single piece. Its height, typical of the menhirs found in Brittany's interior bocage area, is estimated at two to three metres above ground, with the base buried an additional third to ensure its stability. No engraved decoration or inscriptions are visible on the walls of the menhir today, although millennia of erosion may have erased any motifs - cupules or geometric signs - examples of which can be found on several contemporary Armorican menhirs. To erect the monolith, an anchoring pit had to be dug, which archaeological excavations may enable to be rediscovered, and it had to be wedged in place using blocking stones that are invisible from the surface.
Related Figures
Populations néolithiques du bassin rennais (bâtisseurs anonymes, vers 4000-2500 av. J.-C.)Érudits de la Société Archéologique d'Ille-et-Vilaine (inventoriants au XIXe siècle)Inspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (classement officiel, 1929)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Menhir dit La Roche Carrée located?
Menhir dit La Roche Carrée is located in Médréac, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Menhir dit La Roche Carrée open to visitors?
Menhir dit La Roche Carrée is currently closed to visitors.