The Menhir de Champ-Dolent (; ) is a
menhir
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found ...
, or upright standing stone, located in a field outside the town of
Dol-de-Bretagne
Dol-de-Bretagne (, literally ''Dol of Brittany''; br, Dol; Gallo: ''Dóu''), cited in most historical records under its Breton name of Dol, is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine ''département'' in Brittany in northwestern France.
Geography
Dol-d ...
. It is the second largest standing stone in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
and is over 9 metres high.
Location
The Menhir du Champ-Dolent is 2 kilometres (1 mile) south of
Dol-de-Bretagne
Dol-de-Bretagne (, literally ''Dol of Brittany''; br, Dol; Gallo: ''Dóu''), cited in most historical records under its Breton name of Dol, is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine ''département'' in Brittany in northwestern France.
Geography
Dol-d ...
in the department of
Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019. .
It is in a small picnic area fenced off among the fields near the D795 road.
Description
The menhir is the second tallest of Brittany's standing stones.
Its height above ground is between 9.3 and 9.5 metres (about 31 feet).
It is made of pinkish granite,
quarried about away, and has an estimated weight of around
100 tonnes.
It is oval in shape with a smooth surface.
A cross was once placed on top to Christianize it.
It is not precisely dated, but recent scholarship suggests that Brittany's menhirs were erected c. 5000–4000 BC.
It has been registered as a ''
monument historique'' by the
French Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...
since 1889.
In folklore
According to legend, the menhir rose from the ground to separate two feuding brothers who were on the point of killing each other.
This legend is said to account for the name "Champ Dolent" which means "Field of Sorrow".
In reality, the word ''dolent'' is more likely to derive from
Breton ''dolenn'' ("
meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...
").
Another legend states that the menhir is slowly sinking into the ground, and the world will end when it disappears altogether.
According to tradition, in the year 560
Chlothar I, King of the Franks, is said to have met his rebel son,
Chram
Chram (also spelled ''Chramn'', ''Chramm'', Old Frankish for "raven"; Latin: ''Chramnus'', modern French: ''Chramn(e)'') (died 561) was the son of Chlothar I, a Merovingian king of the Franks (r. 558-561), and his fifth wife, Chunsina.
Chram rose ...
, here.
See also
*
Broken menhir of er grah
The Locmariaquer megaliths are a complex of Neolithic constructions in Locmariaquer, Brittany. They comprise the elaborate Er-Grah tumulus passage grave, a dolmen known as the ''Table des Marchand'' and "The Broken Menhir of Er Grah", the larges ...
*
Rudston Monolith
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menhir De Champ-Dolent
Megalithic monuments in Brittany
Monuments historiques of Ille-et-Vilaine
Menhirs