Bagneux dolmen

The Bagneux dolmen, also called La Grande Pierre Couverte or La Roche-aux-Fées or Le Grand Dolman is a megalithic monument located in the town of Saumur (Maine-et-Loire). The Bagneux dolmen is one of the largest dolmens in France. Its regularity and size make it one of the most imposing and characteristic dolmens of the Neolithic period.

A certain Dolomieu would have excavated the dolmen in 1775, without finding anything there. It was first described in 1812 by J.F. Bodin, in his historical research on the city of Saumur, its monuments and those of its arrondissement. In 1839, Ampère mentions a dolmen “at the foot of which a skeleton was found with a stone knife in the side”.

The Bagneux dolmen is now private property, and visiting it is subject to an entrance fee.