Megalithic sites
You’ve chosen a vacation destination that has been visited for over 5,000 years! Open your eyes and discover these amazing witnesses to history.
Carnac : a world-famous megalithic site world-famous megalithic site
The town of Carnac, its alignments and its beaches are well worth a visit!
Let’s start with its incredible alignments 3,000 aligned menhirs spread over some 4 kilometers… To find out where to start, you can download a map of the sites. Don’t hesitate to drop in at the Carnac Tourist Office, which will be able to give you some expert advice…
Discover also the Prehistory Museum
It’s a 30-minute drive from Camping Le Diben.
Make the most of your visit to Carnac with a trip to the the beaches. They’re well sheltered, ideal for a family swim.
Locmariquer megaliths
This is probably the first site to visit if you don’t know much about megaliths. Why should you? On the same site, you’ll discover a stele, a mound and a cairn, 3 emblematic edifices of the Neolithic period. The guided tours are of a high standard. Afterwards, you can discover other sites with a connoisseur’s eye. Locmariquer is a 30-minute drive from Camping Le Diben (Larmor Baden / Baden / Auray / Crac’h / Locmariquer).
The Gavrinis Cairn
It’s almost at the foot of Le Diben campsite… or rather a few minutes by boat from the pen- Lannic slipway in Larmor-Baden. Built on this islet of around 15 hectares, it is likely to have been a royal burial ground. It was built around 5,000 years ago. For centuries, the Gavrinis cairn served as a sea wall for sailors. It wasn’t until 1832 that it was discovered that this 24-metre-high mound actually contained a dolmen. Its size makes it one of the most impressive in Brittany. Prices and opening times on the Conseil Général website.
A few key words to help you understand what it’s all about…
- Megalith: “large stones” forming Neolithic monuments
- Tumulus: a mound of earth several meters high, raised above burial sites.
- Cairn : dry stone mound covering a burial site
- Dolmen : upright stones on which rests a large flat stone forming a burial chamber
- Covered walkway: gallery formed by stone slabs
- Menhir : upright megalith made of a single stone
- Cromlech : concentrically arranged menhirs