Abri de la Roche aux Fées de Cieux, le palais des fées

Cieux

About 40 km from Limoges, south of the étang de Fromental, a chaos of granite blocks forms a natural shelter that local people call the Roche aux Fées. According to a local tradition taken up by the Limousin tourist office, this shelter would be the ruins of the old palace of the fairies. The real history is older still: recent excavations have found there remains and structures proving that the shelter was used from the Final Magdalenian to the Bronze Age, that is from about 10,000 to 1800 BC. That makes about 8,200 years, according to an online press article; the pages read do not give the dates of the excavations or the names of those in charge. Very close by, a stream tumbles in cascade down a granite scree, where one can pick out a rock that looks like a carp's head. The site is on the Cieux megaliths circuit, which also passes by the Pierre branlante and the menhir of Ceinturat. One comes here therefore for two tales that overlap: that of the fairies, handed down orally, and that of the prehistoric occupants, established by archaeology.

Getting there: Free, in the forest, by a path that starts from the D 204 near the étang de Fromental (the same path leads to the Rochers des Fées and the Pas de la Mule); pond and car park free. The coordinates are those of the étang de Fromental (OpenStreetMap): the shelter is further south, exact position not verified.

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

Ambient sound