Site mégalithique de la Lande du Gras
MonumentHidden Treasure
Site mégalithique de la Lande du Gras, located in Meslin (Département 22), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Meslin, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4375, -2.5892
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089330
On the edge of the Côtes-d'Armor department, the Lande du Gras is home to one of the most complete megalithic complexes in inland Brittany: three covered walkways, menhirs and five millennia of history under the moor.
History
In the heart of inland Brittany, in the commune of Meslin, the Lande du Gras is one of those areas where time seems to have stopped long before written history. This exceptional archaeological site combines rare geological strata, an abundance of prehistoric memory and the tumultuous memory of the French Revolution in a single area - a density of heritage that few Breton moors can claim. What makes the Lande du Gras truly unique is first and foremost the coexistence of three distinct covered walkways within a restricted perimeter. The first, sixteen metres long and the best preserved, imposes its Neolithic silhouette with striking clarity: terminal cell to the north, southern entrance, massive blocks of lustrous sandstone. The material itself is exceptional - the outcrop of lustrous sandstone visible on the site is one of the few in the whole of Brittany to retain its original natural facies, without industrial alteration or intensive extraction. A visit to the moor invites you to take an archaeological stroll in the truest sense of the word: as you progress south-eastwards, you will come across the second alley, marked by a satellite menhir almost two metres high, and then around twenty standing stones emerging from the dense vegetation - some of them clearly man-made. The third alley, running south-west/north-east with its own terminal cell, completes this disturbingly coherent monumental picture. The moor itself is a setting of austere beauty. The colours of the heather and broom give rhythm to the seasons, offering photographers and walkers alike a low-angled light that is particularly dramatic at the end of the day. The silence here is never quite empty: it carries with it thousands of years of human presence, from the Neolithic to the Chouannerie era, from funerary furnishings to revolutionary bivouacs.
Architecture
The architecture of the Lande du Gras is that of rough stone fashioned by Neolithic hands with astonishing technical mastery. The three covered aisles belong to the type known as the "Armorican covered aisle" or "sepulchral aisle", characterised by an elongated plan, a main chamber delimited by vertical orthostatic slabs supporting horizontal cover tables, and a terminal cell separated by a perforated or solid bedside slab. The first aisle, sixteen metres long and around two metres wide, is the clearest example: its north-south orientation, with an entrance to the south, is in keeping with regional canons. The orthostats made of local lustre sandstone, some of which are between one and a half and two metres high, bear witness to a considerable logistical and organisational effort for communities with no metallurgy. The dominant material, lustrous sandstone, gives the site a distinctive mineral identity. This sandstone, formed by surface silicification, has a naturally smooth surface that gives it an almost polished appearance - hence its name. Its resistance to erosion is one of the reasons why the structures are so well preserved. The second pathway, twelve metres long and facing south-west, is accompanied by a satellite menhir almost two metres high, a rare feature that suggests ritual signposting of the funerary monument in the landscape. The third alley, running south-west/north-east, is fourteen metres long and has its terminal cell to the north-east. The twenty or so standing stones scattered across the moor, several of which clearly show the signs of having been deliberately placed, may well have formed the outline of an open-air sanctuary, the overall logic of which remains to be elucidated.
Related Figures
Lazare Hoche — général républicain dont les troupes campèrent sur la lande lors des campagnes de pacification de la chouannerie (1794-1796)Prosper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, dont l'action nationale prépara la voie à la protection de sites comme la Lande du GrasZacharie Le Rouzic — archéologue breton spécialiste du mégalithisme armoricain, dont les méthodes d'inventaire influencèrent la reconnaissance des sites des Côtes-d'ArmorLes bâtisseurs néolithiques anonymes — communautés paysannes des IVe-IIIe millénaires av. J.-C. qui érigèrent les allées couvertes et les menhirs
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Site mégalithique de la Lande du Gras located?
Site mégalithique de la Lande du Gras is located in Meslin, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Site mégalithique de la Lande du Gras open to visitors?
Site mégalithique de la Lande du Gras is currently closed to visitors.