Photo : A.Savin / Wikimedia Commons (FAL)
Les Rochers du Saut de Roland
The Saut-Roland rocks are at Dompierre-du-Chemin, about 11 kilometres south of Fougères, in Ille-et-Vilaine. This 40-hectare site, owned by the Département, is the first sensitive natural area at the gates of Brittany. It combines schist and quartzite cliffs, the highest reaching 173 metres, with broadleaf forests dominated by sweet chestnut and pedunculate oak.
The Saint-Blaise stream crosses the site from east to west, among chaos of rocks. The rocks were quarried about 150 years ago for the quality of the quartzite, used to metal roads. Today, the wall has some 96 renowned climbing routes, and paths lead to the viewpoints. According to legend, the knight Roland tried to cross the site on horseback by leaping from rock to rock: he dedicated the first leap to God, the second to the Virgin and the third to his lady, but this one proved fatal.
