The Pierre Levée menhir

  • menhir, raised stone, chaumes en retz, princé forest, stone age, walk menhir, raised stone, chaumes en retz, chéméré, enchanted islands, Princé
  • The Pierre Levée menhir
menhir, raised stone, chaumes en retz, princé forest, stone age, walk menhir, raised stone, chaumes en retz, chéméré, enchanted islands, PrincéThe Pierre Levée menhir

Presentation

The Pierre Levée menhir is a boulder erected in the Neolithic period in what is now the Princé forest in Chéméré, in the commune of Chaumes-en-Retz.
This megalithic feature bears witness to a thousand-year-old presence in this region of the Pays de Retz.
It is located around 2.5 km north of the town of Chéméré (Chaumes en Retz), near a road running through the Princé forest.
It is estimated to be 4,500 years old, or around 2,500 BC.

The menhir is 1.95 m high (Pitre de Lisle is 2.15 m high), 1.30 m wide and 0.60 m thick.

The Pierre Levée menhir stands at the eastern entrance to the Princé forest, the fiefdom of the Retz lord Gilles de Rais, whose historical figure is often confused with the character of "Bluebeard".

There are various local legends about this standing stone:
  • according to local folklore, the story goes that when Gilles de Rais, Baron of Retz, lived in Princé castle, he defended himself against an army besieging him by throwing huge blocks of stone at his attackers. One of them, the so-called menhir, fell straight down and stuck in the ground so deeply that no one has been able to remove it since.
  • Another legend attributes evil powers to the stone. A diabolical superstition is associated with it, stating that if a person wishes to speak to the Devil, "'all he has to do is walk around it seven times, on a moonless night, at midnight, to enter the world of the Underworld".

A little extra: You can view the menhir of La Pierre Levée interactively HERE


 
Information
  • PERIOD OF SITE OR HISTORIC MONUMENT :
    • Prehistoric
  • MEGALITH :
    • Menhir
  • VISITS :
    • Individual admission (without guide)
  • Geographical zone :
    • Chaumes-en-Retz

Map

Map

FICHE_INFO_SIMPLE_LIBELLE_DESTINATION
Le menhir de La Pierre Levée
La Pierre Levée
Chéméré
44320
CHAUMES EN RETZ
GPS coordinates
Latitude : 47.15079
Longitude : -1.88630
See The Pierre Levée menhir on GoogleMaps
LIEN_ACCES_MOTEUR_RESA_FICHE
Contact details
The Pierre Levée menhir
La Pierre Levée
Chéméré
44320
CHAUMES EN RETZ
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