Looking for Menhirs

Bon Jour –

Robert here.  My turn to write the blog, as Margaret deserves a break.  (Actually, M is a bit under the weather, and spent the afternoon sleeping!  Doing a bit better now!)  

Wall at Filitosa

Rock shelter from the Neolithic

Doesn't look waterproof to me...

The first real menhirs with a carved face!

Loved this one in particular!

That's a great face!

Three standing at the rock shelter

Sitting down on the job...

West monument; it's huge!

Around the back is a storage room

Ancient doorway!

Five standing menhirs.

These things fascinate me!

Wall of the rock shelter

Local traffic jam!

Awoke at about 6:00 to a rather cool morning, with clouds hanging on the mountains.  At about 7:30, we went down for our buffet breakfast – hot chocolate, orange juice, croissant, cheese and ham for Margaret; coffee, juice, baguette, cheese and fruit for me.  Then off on our exploration.

The first thing was to check the location of the local laundromat – only about 50 m away.  Closed on Sunday (of course) but we didn’t plan on doing laundry today, just a reconnaissance to see when the place was open.  That done, on to our goal for today – Filitosa– about 30 km north of Sartene.

Filitosa is a megalithic site first occupied in about 3300 BC. The menhirs, however, date from around 1500 BC.  The guess is that they were built to scare off the invading Torréens but apparently, it didn’t work, since the menhirs were knocked over, some broken and even used as building material in Torréen construction.

The site was discovered in 1946 by the land owner and systematic excavation began in 1955.  The menhirs – most statue menhirs, actually, because they are sculpted in low relief – have been set up about the site.  There is also a Torréen castello, not thought to be a fort or a dwelling but rather a ceremonial building.  But who knows?  One disappointment was to see that one of the largest menhirs on the site is a replica of the original that is stored in a warehouse– not even in a nearby museum!  Bummer.  Didn’t bother to photograph the copy.  Maybe this is pure snobbishness but seeing a copy does not have the same impact as seeing the original.  Kind of like the decorated caves in the Dordogne and the north of Spain, where you know you are standing in the spot where someone stood thousands of years ago.

We are, I think, just about saturated by site visits and will probably focus on local museums for the most part from here on.  It seems that most of the sites here are not well developed or, for that matter, protected. Also, they are hard to find and often are quite a trek from the road – uphill, of course!

So, back to the hotel for some much-needed rest.

Cheers,

Robert