Of all the visits we made during our stay, this was undeniably the most memorable. I've always had a deep fascination for history, and prehistory in particular, and although I've known about this site by reputation for several years, I'd never been there before.
More than just a discovery, it was a real rediscovery !
Here's the cairn from a few different viewpoints. This Neolithic monument stands on a peninsula just above the estuary that leads to the charming town of Morlaix further south.
At the entrance to the site, you'll find the classic information panels, both about the monument and the surrounding area. Normally, if you zoom in a little and squint your eyes, you should be able to read something ^^ !
Once past the entrance, this is the road that leads to the cairn. In Gaélic, 'cairn' only means 'pile of stones' but it doesn't specify whether it's a mark in the landscape, a boundary or, as here, a monument.
And since this is the latter, it is necessarily forbidden to climb on it, and even more so to take stones from it, as was often the case for a large number of sites that ended up disappearing. This monument has not escaped this unfortunate rule, and it has been damaged in different ways over the years.
One last look at the information leaflet and let's continue our tour !
On the south-facing side, there are 11 openings, but I believe not all of them are tombs. The first inclination (or not necessarily) is to go and look in these tunnels that are lost in the construction, but these are obviously closed off by grilles that prevent access.
Here are some of these thresholds...
Here's another bit of reading and an illustration that gives you a general view of the site. If I remember correctly, the total length of this structure is approximately 75 meters.
But in the end, there is one of those tunnels that you can use to cross the mausoleum, passing through its heart. I stopped for a few moments to savor the moment in the middle of my journey.
And these are the very interesting structures on the other side. I have to say that these are perhaps even my favorites over the other side. The two egg-shaped openings with their more organic curves soften the whole in a remarkable way. In fact, these are parts of burial chambers that were devastated by a local building contractor who had truckloads of stone taken away.
The only notable advantage of this is that the cut allows us to see the interior without going inside, but that's the only one, because we've lost the original shape of the structure.
This is the first panoramic view you'll be able to take, showing part of the structure and the bay to the west.
On the second, well, it's the mausoleum as a whole.
A little more reading on these very special openings and this face of the monument.
Here, a recreation of a hut from bygone days, with seating and a contemporary aluminium structure.
We continue our second tour of the site and after two or three visits, the visit comes to an end and we leave behind this fantastic witness to the past, whose silhouette is reminiscent of the pyramids of Central and South America !
These are the two slightly more explanatory signs you'll find in the area you enter. I hope you've enjoyed your visit with me and found it interesting !
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you all have a lovely Sunday.
<3
PS : I'd like to apologize to all those I haven't had the time - and the network - to reply to over the last few days. I hope you didn't take this personally !
All texts and images presented here are my own.
De toutes les visites que nous avons pu faire durant ce séjour, celle-ci fut indéniablement la plus marquante. J'ai toujours eu une profonde fascination pour l'histoire et en particulier pour la préhistoire et bien que je connaisse ce site de réputation depuis plusieurs années, je n'y était encore jamais allé.
Plus qu'une simple découverte, ce fut une vraie redécouverte !
Voilà le cairn depuis quelques différents points de vue. Il faut savoir que ce monument néolithique se trouve sur une presqu'île juste au dessus de l'estuaire qui mène à la charmante petite ville de Morlaix plus au sud.
À l'entrée du site, on trouve les classiques panneaux d'informations, que ce soit du monument ou bien des environs. Normalement en agrandissant un peu et sans doute en plissant les yeux, vous devriez parvenir à lire quelque chose ^^ !
Une fois passé l'entrée, voilà la route qui mène au cairn. En gaélic, 'cairn' veut seulement dire 'tas de caillou' mais cela ne spécifie pas s'il s'agit d'une marque dans le paysage, d'une frontière ou bien encore, comme ici, d'un monument.
Et comme ici on est dans cette dernière option, il est forcément interdit de monter dessus et encore plus de prendre des pierres comme cela se faisait souvent pour un grand nombre de lieux qui ont ainsi fini par disparaître. Ce monument n'a pas échappé à cette triste règle et il y aura différentes dégradations suivant les époques.
Un dernier coup d'oeil sur le prospectus informatif et continuons cette visite !
Sur la face exposée au sud, on trouve 11 ouvertures, mais toutes ne sont pas des sépultures. La première envie (ou pas forcément) c'est d'aller voir dans ces tunnels qui se perdent dans la construction, mais ceux-ci sont évidement fermés par des grilles qui en interdisent l'accès.
Voilà quelques uns de ces seuils ci-dessus...
Ici encore un peu de lecture et une illustration qui vous donne une vue générale du site. Si je me rappelle bien, la longueur totale de cette structure est d'approximativement 75 mètres.
Mais il y a finalement bien un de ces tunnels que l'on peu emprunter pour traverser le mausolée en passant en son coeur. Je me suis arrêté quelques instants pour savourer le moment au milieu de mon parcours.
Et voilà les très intéressantes structures que l'on trouve de l'autre côté. Je dois dire que c'est peut-être même celles-ci que je préfère par rapport à l'autre côté. Les deux ouvertures en forme d'oeuf et aux courbes donc plus organiques adoucissent l'ensemble de façon remarquable. En fait il s'agit de parties de chambres funéraires qui ont été dévastées par un entrepreneur en bâtiment de la région qui avait fait prendre des pierres par camions entiers.
Le seul avantage notable de cela, c'est que cette coupe permet dès lors de voir l'intérieur sans pénétrer dedans, mais c'est bien le seul car cela nous a fait perdre la forme qu'avait originellement la structure.
Voilà un premier panoramique dans lequel vous pourrez vous promenez et qui montre un bout de la structure et la baie vers l'ouest.
Sur le second, et bien c'est le mausolée dans son ensemble.
Encore un peu de lecture sur ces ouvertures si particulières et cette face du monument.
Ici, la reconstitution d'une hutte des temps jadis avec des assises et une structure contemporaine en aluminium.
Nous continuons notre second tour du lieu et après en avoir fait deux ou trois, la visite s'achève et nous laissons dans notre dos cette fantastique témoin du passé dont la silhouette n'est pas sans rappeler des pyramides d'Amérique Centrale et du Sud !
Voilà les deux panneaux un peu plus explicatifs que l'on trouve dans l'endroit par où l'on rentre. J'espère que vous aurez apprécié cette visite à mes côtés et que celle-ci vous aura intéressée !
Merci pour votre temps de lecture, je vous souhaite un très bon dimanche à tous.
<3
PS : Je tiens à m'excuser à tous ceux auxquels je n'ai pas eu le temps - et le réseau ces derniers jours - de répondre. J'espère que vous n'avez pas pris cela personnellement !
Tous les textes et images présentés ici sont les miens.
I like to explore the ancient world. There I always feel a kind of pacification and peace. It is as if the wisdom of past ages lives here.
Yeah, those are kind of place we feel deeply rooted and connected to our origins and primitive ways to communicate with nature and inexplicable events !
Thank you @olga.maslievich, I'm glad you enjoyed that visit 😇
Have a lovely day !
This experience must have been a journey into the past, a voyage to a time when these stones were laid with purpose, a testament to the ingenuity of our ancestors. The feeling of rediscovering history, of witnessing the remnants of a time long gone, must have been a profound and humbling sensation.
This place looks interesting, I wish I could also see and get a feel of it, but your pictures did justice. Thank you for sharing this these great scenery.
What a beautiful and historical place it is
This added more to the little knowledge I have
Thank you for sharing
7000 years? Thats so cool that they are older than pyramids. It’s a world wonder how these neolithic structures remain and stand the test of time in the absence of advanced construction materials.
I love how this was so well maintained with the passage of time. There's no experience more authentic than getting to walk through genuine pieces of history
Very beautiful and enchanting place, I am very interested in a place like this, I am sure you must have fun there, thank you very much for sharing with us.ini very amazing post for me.
Wow, the cairn is awesome.
I have to agree, those two egg shaped entrances are my favourite too. How the structure is build… brilliant.
No worries… we are still here 😉
Have a wonderful Sunday @anttn 😘
😊 😘
Thank you @littlebee4 !
Apparently, at the origin, those shapes were inside chambers put outside by the nearby stone thieves ..
I hope you're both doing well ! Have a beautiful week ✌️
You are welcome @anttn 👋🏻😊
Really… very interesting.
We are well, just busy busy… soon we have some free time 😉🤞🏻 I hope.
Do have a great midweek 😘
Thank you @littlebee4 😀
I'm sure you can find a lot of similar places like this one in the Celtic world you live by now :)
Nice to know you're doing good, have an happy weekend with maybe some advance and anticipation hehe 😅
😘
You are welcome @anttn
Oh I am sure they are all over here. I just need to find time to explore them all 😉😎
Thank you kindly… let’s hope for many more adventures.
We are having family visiting us for a week, they arrived this morning. So even more busy now hehehe 🤭
Have a fantastic weekend too 😘
!ALIVE
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Those egg shape entrances.... actually, it made me think of the most natural relationship between male and female. And when I saw the last image, with the cross section of the 11 tunnels, they looked like female reproduction organs. So maybe there is a meaning to this architecture, that after one dies, they are buried as if they have returned to their mother's womb.
Yes, that's exactly it ! I thought the same thing when we visited. But in fact these openings were once under the stones and it's actually the cairn that's changed shape... all 'thanks' to the nearby stone thieves !
I hope you're doing well dear @livinguktaiwan, and that you had a nice summer 🤞😉
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Thank you 😇
7,000 years old. Wow. It's amazing how it still stands.
Indeed ! I was quite surprised too :)
Thank you @glecerioberto for visiting !
Man, you really relived history. I would love to visit these places because I love going to museums, I'm fascinated by what I see inside. I visualize how people lived in those days.
Thank you @incublus :)
I know you can see a stunning site in your country that I always wanted to see : Göbekli Tepe !
I hope you'll have the opportunity to see this one - but in fact you maybe already been 😉
✌️
I didn't visit Göbekli Tepe yet but I really want it 😂
This site looks completely incredible !!
Wow! All I can say is that you gave us a historical visual treat! I was just imagining how it would be like if I went there. Beautiful and just wonderful. I would love to visit some day😌. Thank you for sharing. It was an amazing read for me. Hope you are doing okay?
!discovery 40
Ahh @esther-emmanuel ! I'm super glad you enjoyed this one :)
I'm fine, even if the return to the city, work and everything is rather intense and busy 😅
How are you about ?
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Thanks 😉
Hello, this place seems to be very interesting. Thank you for sharing a little of this place with us ☺️
You're most welcome @name0 !
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I should ask my husband to visit this place. We can go to Morlaix any time of the day. But I got a weird feeling seeing the photos because how many times I had some vivid dreams of the same scenery.