Cathédrale Saint-Samson

Cathédrale Saint-Samson, originally uploaded by Petit Minou-not quite back yet !.

I seem to be on a bit of a Dol de Bretagne theme at the moment but it really is an interesting place to visit

This is the Cathedral of Saint Samson in Dol - one of the largest granite churches in Brittany - if you are wondering why it only has one tower then have a look at my previous post about the Menhir du Champ Dolent

Dol has a great Saturday morning which spreads down the main street which still has many timbered Medieval buildings which are full of character

Le Menhir du Champ Dolent

Le Menhir du Champ Dolent, originally uploaded by Petit Minou-not quite back yet !.

This megalith is almost 10 meters high but it is quite hard to judge its size from the photo. It is one of the largest menhirs in the region.

Of course, many legends surround its origins. The most common features the devil and St. Samson; when the Devil, who was sitting on Mont Dol, saw Saint Samson constructing the cathedral in Dol, he grabbed a huge rock and threw it at the building in order to destroy it. But the stone missed its target and destroyed only the upper part of one of two towers, that's why there is only one complete tower

The rock landed a few miles away and embedded itself into the ground in what is now called the Champ Dolent.