Dolmen de Bagneux

Enormous Neolithic chamber tomb hidden behind a town-square cafe

In the suburb of Bagneux south of Saumur, hidden in a small courtyard behind a corner cafe, stands one of the largest Neolithic chamber tombs in Europe — roughly 5,500 years old. The structure is a covered gallery of vertical megaliths roofed by four enormous slabs, large enough to stand inside.

The setting is famously incongruous: you pay a small fee at the cafe, walk through a back door, and find yourself in a prehistoric monument behind plastic patio furniture. The juxtaposition is part of the charm. Easy to combine with a visit to the Musée des Blindés a short walk away.

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The dolmen is among the largest in Europe — a stone roof slab over 7 metres long and weighing 86 tonnes. It survived as a building only because the cafe owners who bought the property in the 19th century used it as a wine cellar and beer garden curiosity, charging visitors a small fee.

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