Page 20 - Off the Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 1 of 2)

16 ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL SIGHTS 6 MORE ANCIENT SITES TO RIVAL STONEHENGE

Concentric circles of the Sonnenobservatorium, built by one of
Europe’s oldest civilizations
Stones of Ales Stenar, on a picturesque grassy headland looking out Ancient megalithic standing stones in a sea of verdant greenery
to sea, near Kåseberga Sonnen- at Carnac
Ales Stenar, observatorium, Carnac, France

Sweden Germany NEED TO KNOW

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LOCATION On the Atlantic ,*/(%0. -JMMF
NEED TO KNOW NEED TO KNOW Coast of southern Brittany,
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Carnac is 88 miles (140 km)
LOCATION Ales Stenar is LOCATION The site is beside from Nantes and 300 miles $"3/"$ 4USBTCPVSH
located near the fishing /PSUI the town of Goseck in Germany /PSUI (500 km) west of Paris
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village of Kåseberga in 4FB -VMFB ACCESS Open Apr–Oct: )BNCVSH ACCESS Restricted in /BOUFT '3"/$& 48*5;&3-"/%
southern Sweden
10am–6pm; Nov–Mar: #FSMJO 10-"/% summer to reduce site erosion #BZ PG
ACCESS Free 11am–4pm /&5)&3-"/%4 40//&/ #JTDBZ -ZPO *5"-:
/038": '*/-"/% 0#4&37"503*6. DAYTIME
DAYTIME DAYTIME %PSUNVOE TEMPERATURES Jan: #PSEFBVY .BSTFJMMF
TEMPERATURES 48&%&/ TEMPERATURES 48°F (9°C); Apr: 55°F (13°C);
Jan: 36°F (2°C); (ÚUFCPSH 4UPDLIPMN Jan: 37°F (3°C); #&-(*6. (&3."/: $;&$) Jul: 68°F (20°C); Oct: 61°F (16°C) 41"*/ .FEJUFSSBOFBO
Apr: 63°F (l7°C); Apr: 45°F (7°C); 3&16#-*$ 4FB
Jul: 64°F (18°C); .BMNP "-&4 45&/"3 Jul: 68°F (20°C); 4UVUUHBSU
Oct: 48°F (9°C) Oct: 48°F (9°C) '3"/$&
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The mossy-green landscape around the town of
Carnac, scattered with thousands of ancient
At first sight, Ales Stenar might look like a henge, Four concentric circles spotted in a wheatfield at stones, makes this the very picture of the Celtic
but it is in fact oval, not circular, the stones at Goseck in 1991 led two archaeologists to start twilight, although the Neolithic culture that
each end markedly larger than the rest. Floating investigating 11 years later. They found the created it predates the Celts. Made from local
on a wave of green in an ocean of grassy mound, ditch, and the remains of two palisades stone, these mysterious rough-shaped rocks were
headland lapped by the Baltic Sea, this is the of a Neolithic wooden henge, like many seen erected around 4500 BC. The standing stones
most significant of Sweden’s thousand or more across Europe, except this one was 7,000 years (menhirs) are up to 21 ft (6.5 m) tall and some are
“ship settings” – rings of standing stones in the old. Research has revealed that it may have been in rows, such as the Ménec and Kermario
shape of a boat, with the large stone acting as a kind of solar observatory – the earliest known in alignments. There are also groups of stone slabs
the prow, and another as the stern with a small Europe. The henge was rebuilt using more than known as dolmens, and mounds of earth called
“rudder” behind. The stones probably date from 2,000 hand-hewn wooden posts to create two tumuli – both burial sites. The stones were clearly
the Viking period – a clay pot and a few burnt rows of palisades and three gates. The southeast central to the culture and may have had some
human bones found on the site have been and southwest gates catch the sun at midday on astrological significance. The Musée de
traced back to AD 600. the winter solstice, which is why this day was Préhistoire de Carnac tells visitors all there is to
chosen to open the site to the public in 2005. know about these enigmatic stones.

Practical Information
Getting There and Around The nearest town is Ystad, which is 11 miles Practical Information Practical Information
(18 km) away and has bus services. There are frequent trains from Malmö Getting There and Around From Berlin, it’s just over a 2-hour drive to Getting There and Around The nearest airports are at Rennes and Nantes.
in Sweden, which is 45 minutes away by car. Copenhagen in Denmark also Goseck. Alternatively, the regional Leipzig-Halle Airport has direct flights Alternatively, you can take a train from Paris to Auray or Vannes. The stones
offers train services, or you can make the 1-hour journey from Paris and Vienna. Goseck is 36 miles (60 km) away by road. can be seen along the D196 outside Carnac. There is parking at Kermario.
by road. From Kåseberga, it is a short walk through fields up to the site. When to Go You can visit the site in summer, but the winter solstice has When to Go In summer, access to the stones is only possible by a guided
When to Go May to October. special significance. tour; in winter, the sites are more accessible (but subject to variation).
Websites www.skane.com; www.zwoje-scrolls.com/as/aleseng Website www.himmelswege.de/101/ Websites www.megalithia.com/brittany/carnac; www.ot-carnac.fr

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