Galitorte Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.167  Date Added: 16th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 26th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: This one is a nice find in the evening sun towards the end of a long and mostly fruitless day, and is signposted from several places around.

The dolmen stands proud on the eastern end of a long oval mound, its chamber made with two enormous side slabs each 4 metres long by 2 metres high. The capstone sits nicely on top, but is not as long as the chamber below, which faces east with a bearing of 102°. Perhaps more importantly than the bearing is that the opening frames perfectly a significant hill on the horizon.

After taking the picture from within the chamber, I nearly knocked myself out by quickly standing up inside. I can report that the capstone gives a nice ringing clang when hit in this manner, and I had to sit down to recover for several minutes afterwards, before I could walk back to the van !

Buzareingues Dolmen 1

Trip No.203  Entry No.168  Date Added: 16th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 26th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a lovely little dolmen sitting on top of a nice little mound, which is still a couple of metres high, but which is not much larger than the by now standard chamber 4 metres long, 1.8 metres wide, facing 104°. It aligns directly to a significant hill, the Puech de las Fadès, which has a significant cliff face and what looks to be a shaped top, to which many legends are attached. It is quite easily found, and signposted, but there isnt anywhere to park a camper van without obstructing the track, so I was in a bit of a hurry here.

Buzareingues dolmen 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.169  Date Added: 16th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 26th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen is a wreck, just really the broken remains of a capstone, although the remains of one of the side slabs can be made out. As with its much better condition neighbour, it aligns towards the east, facing directly to a significant hill, the Puech de las Fadès, with a cliff face and what looks to be a shaped top.

Puech de las Fadès

Trip No.203  Entry No.170  Date Added: 16th Apr 2020
Site Type: Hillfort Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 26th May 2005

Log Text: A significant hill of the region, which at the top has some significant cliff faces, making it an obvious place for a defended settlement in ancient times. Puech de las Fadès means Hill of the Fairies in the local Occitain language, and many stories and legends abound about the fairies who live on the hill, who are said to have built the nearby Buzareingues and Galitorte dolmens.

Dolmen de Bel-Air 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.171  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: This dolmen is in the middle of a field of barley, so I didn’t get right to it. It looks a bit of a mess, and not much more than an overgrown bump in a field.

Dolmen de Bel-Air 1

Trip No.203  Entry No.172  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Couldn't find on 27th May 2005

Log Text: No obvious signs of this one, but it is supposed to be a bit of a wreck with no capstone, under some trees the far side of a little ravine. I gave up fairly easily.

Dolmen de Souque

Trip No.203  Entry No.173  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Couldn't find on 27th May 2005

Log Text: The book says its 1.3 km down the little track towards Randels, and then somewhere on the left, hidden by undergrowth. I went for a look, but there was nowhere to park a campervan, and I could see nothing obvious, so gave up after a couple of drivebys.

Sermels menhir

Trip No.203  Entry No.174  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: I was not expecting this one as I drove past on the way west along the D.2 road. It is a lovely menhir, 3 metres tall, on the edge of a valley. There are some interesting holes in it.

Pèira Levada (La Glène)

Trip No.203  Entry No.175  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: High up on the windswept, sunbaked plateau, not far from the D.911 road north of Millau, this is one heck of a big dolmen which has sadly collapsed on one side. The views to the southeast over the river Tarn are astonishing, with the new motorway snaking its way down the distant hillside adding some interest.

The giant capstone must be 6 metres by 4 metres, and was sitting on two 4 metre long by 2 metre high side slabs, the eastern of which has tipped inwards letting the capstone fall this side. Its backstone has broken, allowing this to happen. The chamber faces unusually south of southeast at 154° - most of the dolmens round here are pretty close to due east. The back has at some point been walled up for use as a shelter.

Its a pity about the dirty modern buildings and busy road nearby.

Dolmen de la Tâcherie

Trip No.203  Entry No.176  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Couldn't find on 27th May 2005

Log Text: Not much time to spend looking for this before I have to meet Ellie in Millau, so only a quick look to see if its obvious. No way, its well hidden a couple of hundred metres into an oak forest, so so I leave this one for Another to find.

Azinières Dolmen 1

Trip No.203  Entry No.177  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: This little 3 m by 2 m dolmen sits right beside the busy D.911 road a few kilometres to the north of Millau, continuously passed by masses of heavy lorries which I guess do not like to pay the toll charges for the new motorway. There was once another one here, destroyed when the road was made bigger.

Dolmen de Combets 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.178  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: In a field just to the southwest of St Michel-de-Larzac can be found this dolmen with a chamber 4 metres long by 1.8 metres wide. There is not much sign of a mound, but the chamber floor is below ground level of the field surrounding it. It is still enclosed on all four sides, and faces towards east at 100°. The capstone is broken, with a further two metres of stone a bit to the west, which would have made a 5.5 by 2.5 metre capstone originally.

Its very blowy up on this high plateau this afternoon, on the way with Ellie to go and cross the Millau viaduct, otherwise known as "the bridge in the sky".

Dolmen de Combets 1

Trip No.203  Entry No.179  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Too windy to write anything as I visited this one, it was blowing my book and everything away, so only small notes !. There is not much left of this dolmen, just a single large sideslab and one end stone. There is no sign of any capstone remaining, and its mound has been well eaten into with ploughing. There are the remains of many other mounds to be seen nearby.

Tiergues Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.180  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 28th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Near to the village of Tiergues, in Aveyron, this is a lovely dolmen, as used in postcards and much Aveyron tourist publicity. It is not far from the D.250 road and signposted from the main D.992 road nearby.

The dolmen is 4 metres long, and 2 metres in both height and width, it has two good long side slabs, with a broken and falling back stone. On top of these there is a good capstone, which is very level, covering a chamber which opens to the northeast at 065°.

While posing for a picture here, the dolmen bit me, as I stood up and hit my head on the capstone, which overhangs the sidestones at the front quite considerably. There are meagre remains of a mound, and a few other large bits of stone surround it.

Roquefort menhir

Trip No.203  Entry No.181  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Couldn't find on 28th May 2005

Log Text: Menhir near to the famous cheese village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, Aveyron. If you have time between cheese tasting and touring the various caves, there is a little walk signposted from the village which takes you down to the river and a menhir. The scenery here is really spectacular.

La Baraque Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.182  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 28th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a nice little dolmen still well contained within its mound which can be found about 150 metres down the footpath to the north of the road to Baraque Farm / Gite about 150 metres before you reach it. The chamber is only about 2 metres in length, 1 metre wide and 1 metre high, much smaller than a lot round here, but it is very neat, and has a little information sign.

Musée Fenaille

Trip No.203  Entry No.183  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Museum Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 29th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 5

Log Text: This magnificent museum is found in the old city of Rodez, inside a beautiful old building which is as much part of the museum as all the collections of items within it. The museum is perhaps best known for its superb collection of statue menhirs, extremely well presented on the top floor, but there is much more besides.

Dolmen de Perignagols

Trip No.203  Entry No.184  Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 30th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This is a nice dolmen with a lovely shaped and pitted egg shaped capstone, about 4 metres by 4 metres sitting on the top of two three to four metre long side slabs. The chamber is a healthy 4 metres by 2 metres internal dimensions.

The dolmen is signposted up a track to the top of a little hill just to the north of Rodez airport runway, but the atmosphere here is spoiled a bit by all the road straightening and widening going on nearby. There are fantastic views from here across towards Rodez.

Dolmen de Seveyrac (Salles-la-Source) 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.185  Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 30th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Walking westwards along the ridge from Pérignagols dolmen, there are several other mounds which are passed, one of which can be seen to have a couple of large stones on the surface at the eastern end of a long oval shaped mound. Fantastic views, made all the more impressive by the approach of a massive rainstorm.

Musee Rouergue

Trip No.203  Entry No.186  Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Museum Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 30th May 2005. My rating: Access 5

Log Text: In the village of Salles-la-Source can be found this museum of Rouergue life. Amongst much old farming machinery and suchlike the museum has a prehistoric collection.