Showing posts with label Menhir de Pierrefitte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Menhir de Pierrefitte. Show all posts

Thursday 8 February 2024

Big Rocks Come in ‘Handy’

Troglodyte Lunch

It was a real ‘wow’ moment as we turned the corner to the market square of St Emilion and saw the magnificent troglodyte church. It was carved into the rock in the 11th Century and has been added to over the centuries. I read that it is the largest rock-carved church in Europe and has always attracted pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela (of course). Unfortunately, it’s not open today so we can’t explore the interior but the outside is impressive enough.



Lower part carved from rock





Market Square - used to be a graveyard

We didn’t think the 11th Century was far enough back in history for us to go today so we searched for and found a 4,500 year old megalith, the Menhir de Pierrefitte, which is about 4 km outside St Emilion. This is apparently the largest menhir in south west France and is unusually shaped like a hand - if you look at it from the right angle. 

Hugo posing well for a change

Hand in the hand


A Soggy Return

It wasn’t the welcome home we expected - torrential rain, flooding, and giant potholes in pretty much every road we drove on today. Ugh! The...