Photo : Xfigpower / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Fosse Arthour
The Fosse Arthour is a narrow, deep gorge of about 70 metres, on the border of the Manche and the Orne, near Saint-Georges-de-Rouelley. It cuts into a bar of Armorican sandstone, formed nearly 470 million years ago from marine sands. Faults fractured this bar, then the Sonce, a tributary of the Égrenne, rushed into the breach and gradually carved its bed to form a cluse.
The site also owes its fame to its Arthurian legends: the King's Chamber, on the opposite slope, was said to be the home of King Arthur, while the Queen's Chamber recalls the story of Guinevere, who is said to have thrown herself from the rock to join Arthur in the abyss.
The place is listed, part of the Natura 2000 network and managed as a sensitive natural area. A pond, created in 1978 to regulate the flow of the Sonce, adorns the bottom of the gorge, and a path lets you go round it.
