Cairn of Barnenez
Cairn of Barnenez
3.5
10:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 6:30 PM
About
Situated on the Kernelehen peninsula in the Finistere-Nord region, the Barnenez Cairn is a truly exceptional megalithic site. This large tumulus is, in fact, composed of two adjacent cairns (stone pyramids), dating from 4500 to 3500 BC, known as the "Prehistoric Parthenon". This vast construction made entirely from carefully piled stones comprises eleven funeral chambers connected by galleries. The Barnenez site is a gem of the Neolithic age when mankind began to settle, develop livestock farming and agriculture, pottery, weaving and other civilised crafts. Open: > 2nd May to 30th June: from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. > 1st July to 4th September: from 10 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. > 5th September to 30th April: from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. Last admission 30 minutes before closing time. Closed: > Mondays from 5th September to 30th April. > 1st January, 1st May, 1st November, 11th November and 25th December. Admission fees: Adults : 5,50 €; Concessions (18 to 25) = 4,50 €; Free admission: minors under 18*; Free admission: 18-25 years old* (citizens of one of the 27 countries of the EU or are non-European permanent residents of France) * excluding school groups
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
3.5
304 reviews
Excellent
89
Very good
79
Average
56
Poor
53
Terrible
27
mfilcol2014
Lisbon, Portugal985 contributions
Sep 2021
Located in morlaix bay, this prehistoric structure must be interesting. Unfortunately it was closed. The entrance price was 6 euros which I think is a bit exaggerated.
The visit was not in vain, because a little bit further the view over the bay and the sea is magnificent.
The visit was not in vain, because a little bit further the view over the bay and the sea is magnificent.
Written October 5, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
D M
48 contributions
Jun 2020
Very impressive structure and beautiful vistas. Did not notice the museum shop as mentioned in other reviews. Unfortunately, you are unable to go into any of the chambers and only view the structure from the outside.
Written June 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Geoff S
Le Mont Felard, UK98 contributions
Apr 2017
Having an interest in pre-historic sites we visited this after arriving in Brittany via Roscoff. The site itself was closed for lunch when we arrived (12.30 - 2), so we walked round the area and explored the scenery. When it opened we went in. There is a small exhibition space with a model showing the cairn and a timeline putting it in a little context. We were given a short leaflet which again contains a little information.
The site itself is enormously impressive, and it is only by getting up close to it that you appreciate the magnitude of the achievement for such a supposedly primitive society.
The site itself is enormously impressive, and it is only by getting up close to it that you appreciate the magnitude of the achievement for such a supposedly primitive society.
Written April 13, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
NYU
3 contributions
Jun 2022
Our visit to the Cairn de Barnenez was spoilt by a guide, employee of the site, who managed to have a fairly large group of people listening to her story for over half an hour, standing straight in front of some of the openings in the cairn. When I asked her to move the group away from the cairn beause she didn't point out any details to support her story, she refused. There were more people who wanted to admire the cairn in a less crowded setting, but apparently the guide was more important than the cairn, but also more important than the visitors, except may be the ones that were in her group. She might have been very knowledgeble in her field, but a guide should also be proficient in hospitality, as the tourist industry is called.
Even sadder: I never received a reaction on my letter of complaint that i sent to the superiors of the site.
Even sadder: I never received a reaction on my letter of complaint that i sent to the superiors of the site.
Written August 17, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jan S
2 contributions
Feb 2018 • Couples
The cairn actually belongs to the top five of oldest man-made structures in the world and it is very little known. It is far more than just an old man-made pile of rocks. A cairn with built-in dolmens and corbelled vaults, the earliest type of vaults, 11 corridors and associated chambers. The largest Neolithic structure in Europe. It was almost destroyed as a stone quarry in 1954. The quarry left a scar that now provides a view of its internal features. 2500 years older than Stonehenge and 2000 years older than the pyramids with far less visitors. The view over the Bay of Morlaix is great. That's part of the reason the cairn is where it is. An imposing and dominating position. My advise is to read-up before you go there as you will know what you are looking at. Its internal rock carvings were even painted. What rocks were used and where they come form. What was done to build this structure and why it lasted for more than 6000 years. If you go there without preps it will be indeed be just a pile of rocks and it may disappoint you just as it did for others commenting on this site. Blame it on ignorance. Ever visited Stonehenge with hundreds of other shuffling along? That's disappointing, but people accept that because they know about Stonehenge, You will not have the people problem in Barnenez. Very few know about Barnenez and what it stands for but if you do you will look very differently at this old pile of rocks. It is clear that the builders had a good understanding of the characteristic of the natural rocks available in the area. They chose their material wisely, minimizing work and maximizing what could be achieved with limited means. No need to invoke dark fairies or dwarfs, the infamous Breton korrigans, as old local tradition tells us. Excavation revealed that the strcuture consistst of actually two connected cairns have a complex history, with parts of earlier structure(?s) dismantled and re-used to build the current structures.
Internal features (not accessible in chamber H) include carved symbols, ax-shapes, bow-shapes, zig-zag-shapes, U-(bullshead) shapes, with the most famous a kind of head with radiating spiky hair, ‘forme d’écusson’, dubbed the “Dolmen Goddess” - although there is no indication at all of anything female.
What would it take to build this thing?
One cubic meter of the Barnénez cairn contains some 1,500 kg of stone. It is estimated that the collection, transport and construction of such an amount represents about four work days for a single worker (a 10-hour day). With a volume of about 2000-2500 m3 (3000-4000 tonnes) the first cairn is built of some 750 tons of granite and 2250 tons of local dolerite. That would take 8000 days to build for one person, or some three months for a group of 100 persons. The combined cairn is about 2 ½ - 3 times bigger and with much more granite used in the extension, would have required a massive investment and organization of people and time. Impressive to think that was achieved some 6000-7000 years ago.
What would it have been used for?
There is a lot written, but the simple fact is that we don’t know too much. It has been termed the oldest mausoleum of the world but we don’t know whether it was used solely for the dead. Reports of remains of scorched or charred human bones indicate a connection with the dead is likely. The acidity of the soil would not have left many bones which could explain the absence of more remains. It is a massive monumental structure that has taken a lot of effort to build and is located in a dominating position. That implies it has had an important function. That’s why the connection with the dead, gods and perhaps even fertility becomes a plausible one. After all, these are the things that have kept us humans puzzled and mystified ever since we started thinking about them. For those who like mystery, just stick with a dwelling for korrigans…..
Why there?
There were originally two separate cairns on the headland. Only the southern one, the largest, survived the quarrying-at least for a large part- when it was stopped in 1954. The northern cairn by then had completely disappeared.
The guidebook of the cairn states that some 6000-7000 years ago the Bay of Morlaix was largely dry, providing good soil for early agriculture. The bay in this view was grassland with a river running through it. It is questionable whether this interpretation is valid. Inspection of the Holocene sea level curve tells us that sea level has hardly changed in that period and the peninsula therefore may have looked very much the same as it does now. We should not forget that the shallow rocks and extensive tidal flats would have provided plenty of seafood to the Neolithic people who built the cairn and one does not necessarily need to invoke extensive early agriculture as a reason for people to settle.
So:
A great pile of rocks with a long history to dream about for sure, but you should take a nice sunny day with few visitors to get a feel for its age -and stay- in this mood. Nice and sunny means people, whereas quiet and peaceful means wind and rain, a bit disruptive for contemplation. There are those rare days in autumn, winter and early spring that just fit the equation.
Have fun and know what you are looking at.
Internal features (not accessible in chamber H) include carved symbols, ax-shapes, bow-shapes, zig-zag-shapes, U-(bullshead) shapes, with the most famous a kind of head with radiating spiky hair, ‘forme d’écusson’, dubbed the “Dolmen Goddess” - although there is no indication at all of anything female.
What would it take to build this thing?
One cubic meter of the Barnénez cairn contains some 1,500 kg of stone. It is estimated that the collection, transport and construction of such an amount represents about four work days for a single worker (a 10-hour day). With a volume of about 2000-2500 m3 (3000-4000 tonnes) the first cairn is built of some 750 tons of granite and 2250 tons of local dolerite. That would take 8000 days to build for one person, or some three months for a group of 100 persons. The combined cairn is about 2 ½ - 3 times bigger and with much more granite used in the extension, would have required a massive investment and organization of people and time. Impressive to think that was achieved some 6000-7000 years ago.
What would it have been used for?
There is a lot written, but the simple fact is that we don’t know too much. It has been termed the oldest mausoleum of the world but we don’t know whether it was used solely for the dead. Reports of remains of scorched or charred human bones indicate a connection with the dead is likely. The acidity of the soil would not have left many bones which could explain the absence of more remains. It is a massive monumental structure that has taken a lot of effort to build and is located in a dominating position. That implies it has had an important function. That’s why the connection with the dead, gods and perhaps even fertility becomes a plausible one. After all, these are the things that have kept us humans puzzled and mystified ever since we started thinking about them. For those who like mystery, just stick with a dwelling for korrigans…..
Why there?
There were originally two separate cairns on the headland. Only the southern one, the largest, survived the quarrying-at least for a large part- when it was stopped in 1954. The northern cairn by then had completely disappeared.
The guidebook of the cairn states that some 6000-7000 years ago the Bay of Morlaix was largely dry, providing good soil for early agriculture. The bay in this view was grassland with a river running through it. It is questionable whether this interpretation is valid. Inspection of the Holocene sea level curve tells us that sea level has hardly changed in that period and the peninsula therefore may have looked very much the same as it does now. We should not forget that the shallow rocks and extensive tidal flats would have provided plenty of seafood to the Neolithic people who built the cairn and one does not necessarily need to invoke extensive early agriculture as a reason for people to settle.
So:
A great pile of rocks with a long history to dream about for sure, but you should take a nice sunny day with few visitors to get a feel for its age -and stay- in this mood. Nice and sunny means people, whereas quiet and peaceful means wind and rain, a bit disruptive for contemplation. There are those rare days in autumn, winter and early spring that just fit the equation.
Have fun and know what you are looking at.
Written March 11, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
archaeo13
Haverfordwest, UK101 contributions
Mar 2013 • Friends
One of the largest burial cairns in Europe and a very important site look at the situation and try to imagine how it would have looked 6000 years ago
A wonderful site
A wonderful site
Written April 16, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Manc_Mummy
Greater Manchester, UK51 contributions
Aug 2012 • Family
I love the Neolithic period of history and Time Team so I loved here. It was a bit of a grey skied windy day when we visited but the views across the Bay of Morlaix to St Pol de Leon, Carentec and all the little villages along the western edge of the river were spectacular. The day we visited, there were tours in French every hour or so and I listened in a bit with my pidgeon French, the leaflet you get is quite a good explanation of the Cairn and it's got a romantic history of being saved in the 50's from a company who were quarrying and selling all the stones used to build it.
The children loved running in the meadow that surrounds it and it is full of the most beautiful variety of wildflowers, butterflies and bees.
The day we visited, a musician put on a show for more than an hour teaching the children about the kind of music and instruments used by the people who built the Cairn. He played tunes on a leaf, guord, stone xylophone, bagpipes made from an old plastic bottle and pipes made from reeds and sticks he cut off a branch with a pair of seceters and cut with a pen knife.
My son came away with a leaf pushed into a cut in a stick that made a sound when he blew it and another hollow stick with a hole in it with a piece of plastic bag rubberbanded over one end that makes a sound like a duck call that is his favourite souvenir of the holiday. My one regret was that he didn't end his demonstration, he just called over another group of children who had just arrived and I didn't get a chance to get his name, I think he was Breton and have a sneaking suspicion he plays modern Breton music in another life...
to get there, go by the coast road, beware Google maps sending you via the motorway. It doesn't really add any time as the roads are so empty and you'll miss the most spectaclar views (after all you are on holiday) We drove from Carantec to Morlaix to cross the bridge and follow the opposite bank of the river to Plouezoc'h
The children loved running in the meadow that surrounds it and it is full of the most beautiful variety of wildflowers, butterflies and bees.
The day we visited, a musician put on a show for more than an hour teaching the children about the kind of music and instruments used by the people who built the Cairn. He played tunes on a leaf, guord, stone xylophone, bagpipes made from an old plastic bottle and pipes made from reeds and sticks he cut off a branch with a pair of seceters and cut with a pen knife.
My son came away with a leaf pushed into a cut in a stick that made a sound when he blew it and another hollow stick with a hole in it with a piece of plastic bag rubberbanded over one end that makes a sound like a duck call that is his favourite souvenir of the holiday. My one regret was that he didn't end his demonstration, he just called over another group of children who had just arrived and I didn't get a chance to get his name, I think he was Breton and have a sneaking suspicion he plays modern Breton music in another life...
to get there, go by the coast road, beware Google maps sending you via the motorway. It doesn't really add any time as the roads are so empty and you'll miss the most spectaclar views (after all you are on holiday) We drove from Carantec to Morlaix to cross the bridge and follow the opposite bank of the river to Plouezoc'h
Written August 14, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JackSara K
Bagnoles de l’Orne Normandie, France266 contributions
Feb 2016 • Couples
Visit on the 1st Sunday of the month, when the entrance is free of charge. The cairn history, museum, and preservation is good. The views from this point are picturesque, so bring the camera.
Written February 20, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Patrick B
Ghent, Belgium109 contributions
Sep 2015 • Couples
After paying 5.5 euros you get access to one of the greater archeological cairns in Brittany and in fact in the world. However, be warned: you need to understand this is not a usual tourist attraction nor a pyramid in Egypt. So this is not a place you can actually enter. Size, state and value simply do not allow this. If you have an interest in archaeology, do go. If you have no interest in "piles of stones", don't go, you'll be disappointed.
Written October 19, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark S
Willunga, Australia479 contributions
Oct 2015 • Couples
Yes it is a very large pile of stones but it is hard to get enthusiastic about stones. Cost 5.5 Euro to go and see it and I have to say it was disappointing. There was a very nice walk along the coast near the Cairn which was free...
Written October 9, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cedric Martin
Morlaix, France5 contributions
La visite de ce lieu est elle gratuite ou payante ?
Cairn of Barnenez, Plouezoc'h
Frequently Asked Questions about Cairn of Barnenez
- Cairn of Barnenez is open:
- Sun - Sat 10:00 AM - 6:30 PM
- Hotels near Cairn of Barnenez:
- (0.09 mi) Fisherman's cottage in a small village 2.3 km from the sea
- (0.33 mi) Dans un esprit "maison de pêcheur", entre Finistère et côte de granit rose
- (0.45 mi) KerBlondel
- (0.45 mi) KerBlondel - Bali Junior Suite
- (0.45 mi) Charming cottage in Plouezoc'h
- Restaurants near Cairn of Barnenez:
- (0.15 mi) La Vague
- (4.28 mi) Le Kiosk Creperie Morlaisienne
- (4.29 mi) Le Saïgon
- (4.11 mi) Crêperie Ty Bihan
- (4.27 mi) La Crêpe Enchantée