Alignements de Carnac

The Carnac alignments are in the commune of Carnac in the Morbihan département in Brittany. This is an exceptional site of megalithic alignments made up of rows of menhirs, dolmens and gallery graves, spread over more than four kilometres. The Carnac alignments are the most famous and impressive megalithic ensembles of this period, with nearly 4,000 standing stones. Since 1991, the site has been closed to the public in summer and freely accessible in winter in order to preserve and conserve the site. Indeed, free access caused many cases of damage to the menhirs (falls and loosening) and to the heath, especially in summer. The menhirs are protected as historic monuments by several successive lists and orders, the first in 1889. In 1996, the megalithic sites of Carnac were placed on UNESCO's tentative list with a view to a World Heritage nomination in the cultural category. The site is managed by the Centre des monuments nationaux, a public body under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture. However, to date the study area envisaged for a World Heritage nomination groups about twenty communes, placing the Carnac sites in a coherent geographical and cultural ensemble of several hundred sites.

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