Sanctuaire du Haut-Bécherel, dit temple de Mars

Corseul

On a hill 1.7 km from the village of Corseul, the former capital of the Gallo-Roman civitas of the Coriosolites, stands the tallest wall of Roman masonry in Brittany. It is the octagonal cella, the heart of a great sanctuary, one section of which survives to a height of 10.60 m, out of an original twenty metres or so. Long the only visible part, known as the tour du Haut-Bécherel, it proved, after 19th-century excavations and a plan drawn up in 1869, to be the centre of a temple covering more than a hectare: a courtyard bordered by a gallery on three sides, with a footprint of 90 m by 80, opening onto a sacred precinct of about 5,000 m². The sanctuary was built in a single campaign, probably around the middle of the 1st century, and remained in use until the end of the 3rd; in its proportions, it is unique in Brittany. A 16th-century farmhouse has been built against its south wall. The tower has been listed as a historic monument since the list of 1840, and protection was extended in 1997 to the buried remains. Christianity settled nearby: a chapelle Saint-Uriac, or Saint-Thuriau, attested from the late 12th century and under the authority of the monks of Léhon, once stood near the tower; it was converted into a house around the mid-19th century. The fountain of the same name survives, a sunken basin of large upright slabs, said to be always full. It is reported, with no further detail, that Saint Uriac overturned a standing stone that people used to worship in the temple.

Wikipédia — Temple de Mars (Corseul) ↗

Getting there : At the place called le Haut-Bécherel, 1.7 km from the village of Corseul. The remains are open to the public; opening hours and visiting conditions to be checked. Information from the Corseul town hall or the ArchéoMusée Coriosolis, in the village (to be checked).

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound