Tombe mégalithique du château de la Ferrière
MonumentHidden Treasure
Tombe mégalithique du château de la Ferrière, located in La Ferrière-de-Flée (Maine-et-Loire), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- La Ferrière-de-Flée, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.7352, -0.8581
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00109103
An enigmatic Neolithic relic nestling in the Anjou countryside, this listed megalithic tomb reveals over 5,000 years of silent history in the heart of Maine-et-Loire.
History
At the bend in a hedged path in La Ferrière-de-Flée, in the north of Maine-et-Loire, one of the oldest traces of human presence in Anjou stands out: the megalithic tomb of Château de la Ferrière, a funerary monument erected by Neolithic populations over five millennia ago. Far from the major tourist concentrations, this listed archaeological site offers a striking confrontation with the dawn of organised humanity, at a time when building in stone meant defying time and oblivion. What makes this monument so special is precisely its raw, unmuseable nature. The slabs of sandstone or schist that make up the site have never been subjected to the veneer of spectacular restoration: they stand or lie in their age-old position, offering the attentive visitor an authentic, almost intimate experience that the big tourist sites can no longer offer. The proximity of the toponymy to Château de la Ferrière is a reminder of the extent to which places of memory have overlapped over the centuries, with each civilisation reinterpreting the space bequeathed by its predecessors. A visit to this dolmen or covered walkway - typical of the funerary tradition in western France - is an invitation to stroll and contemplate. You can appreciate the colossal collective effort involved in transporting and erecting such blocks, in a landscape that at the time was neither bocage nor cultivated field, but forest cleared by a rapidly expanding farming community. The low-angled morning light or the golden hues of autumn sublimate the minerality of the orthostats and the covering table. The surrounding countryside, typical of the Segréen region with its hedgerows, sunken lanes and damp meadows, reinforces the sense of a preserved heritage far from the beaten track. For hikers, amateur archaeologists or simply those with a curiosity for historical depth, this megalithic tomb is a must-see when exploring Anjou's prehistoric heritage, alongside the dolmens of Bagneux and the menhirs of Champ-Dolent.
Architecture
The megalithic tomb at Château de la Ferrière belongs to the family of Neolithic funerary monuments in western France, the two main categories of which are the corridor dolmen and the covered walkway. In both cases, the structure is based on the same construction principle: upright vertical stones, known as orthostats or jambs, support one or more horizontal cover slabs, the table or capstone, forming an accessible burial chamber. The materials used come from the local geological substratum, probably schist, Armorican sandstone or Roussard sandstone, typical stones of the Segréen and northern Anjou regions. The dimensions of such structures vary considerably depending on the region and local traditions: the most modest are no more than three or four metres long, while the great covered walkways of Anjou, such as the one at Bagneux in Saumur, can be up to nineteen metres long. The tomb at La Ferrière-de-Flée probably has an intermediate configuration, consisting of several lateral uprights delimiting an elongated chamber, topped by one or two partially preserved covering slabs. Originally, the whole structure was probably covered by a mound of earth and dry stones that masked the lithic structure, leaving only an access at one end visible. The architectural interest of this type of monument lies in its rigorous structural design: the balance of the masses, the management of the loads and the durability of the assembly, without any binding agents, bear witness to an in-depth empirical knowledge of the strength of materials. Five millennia of weathering have not affected the essence of the structure, proving the lasting effectiveness of this construction system.
Related Figures
Populations néolithiques du Segréen (IVe-IIIe millénaire av. J.-C.) — bâtisseurs anonymes du monumentSeigneurs de La Ferrière-de-Flée (Moyen Âge) — propriétaires médiévaux des terres abritant le mégalitheÉrudits de la Société des Antiquaires de l'Ouest (XIXe siècle) — premiers recenseurs scientifiques du monumentInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (1989) — acteurs du classement officiel du site
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Tombe mégalithique du château de la Ferrière located?
Tombe mégalithique du château de la Ferrière is located in La Ferrière-de-Flée, Maine-et-Loire department, Pays de la Loire region, France.
Is Tombe mégalithique du château de la Ferrière open to visitors?
Tombe mégalithique du château de la Ferrière is currently closed to visitors.
