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Alignments
Alignments are rows of standing stones (menhirs), ranging
from one row of a few stones to several rows of hundreds of stones. The
most famous are the four alignments at Carnac: Le Menec, Kermario, Kerlescan
and Le Petit Menec (from west to east). But not far away, at Kerzerho
and at Ste. Barbe, are other large, complex alignments.
Click on map to see enlargement
Le Menec
West end
East end |
About 1200 metres long, running southwest
to northeast
12 lines of almost 1100 stones, starting and ending with flattened stone circles
About half way along, rows bend 6.5°; rows not parallel, converge towards east
Average height of stones is 1 metre but 1.5m at east end and 3m at west end |
Kermario
West end
Partial line
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About 1000 metres long, running southwest
to northeast
7 main lines + 3 partial rows of more than 1000 stones, probably with a stone circle at west end
Rows have three bends; also converge towards the east
Dolmen at south-west end of lines is much older than the alignments
Manio menhir near east end has parallel snaky lines carved near bottom
and a tomb (may also be older than alignments) |
Kerlescan
Looking West to Barrel Cromlech
West end |
About 355 metres long, running southwest
to northeast, fan shape
13 lines of more than 300 stones, 78m x 74m
Quadrilateral or barrel cromlech at west end
Like Le Menec and Kermario, the stones at the west end are much bigger
than those to the east
North of lines is a 90m-diameter cromlech and a dolmen |
Le Petit Menec
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Badly destroyed and not maintained
2 - 3 curved lines longer than 300 metres; about half way along 6
or 7 rows adjacent to south-east part of curve
Were more than 250 stones but many taken in last century to build
the lighthouse on Belle-Ile |
Keriaval
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Several partial lines, very badly destroyed
Lines seem to run northeast |
Kerzerho
Alignments
Kerzerho Giants |
1 kilometre southeast of Erdevan; about
8 km northwest of Carnac
About 2 km long running northwest to southeast
10 rows of more than 1100 stones plus a row of huge stones (The Giants of Kerzerho) perpendicular to northern row at west end
Possibly a ruined circle at west end |
La Chaise de César
(Caesar's Chair)
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In woods 2 km southeast of Erdevan, between
the Mané Croc'h and Mané Braz dolmen
Also running northwest to southeast (extension of Kerzerho complex?)
Stone circle at east end of alignments
The photo on the right shows why the site is called Caesar's Chair |
Ste. Barbe
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Near village of Ste. Barbe, northwest
of Plouharnel; about 6 km northwest of Carnac
At least four rows, many stones plundered to build village |
St. Pièrre de
Quiberon |
Associated with stone circle |
Vieux Moulin
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North of Plouharnel
6 stones in a line, some almost adjacent
Line does not quite point to 3 huge standing stones (one fallen -
looks like dolmen capstone) on nearby hill but slightly east of it
(see middle photo - tip of standing stone is just visible above trees
on skyline at left). The lower photo shows the 3 massive stones. |
All photographs were taken by myself, during trips to
the megaliths of Carnac in 1980, 1983, 1994, 1998, and 2002. All photographs
are my property and may not be copied or used without my written permission.
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