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La Brèche au Diable (The devil's gap)

La Breche au Diable, Natural Site of Normandy

‘La Brèche au Diable’ owes its archeological riches to the phenomenon of erosion which shaped the site and favoured the installation of the people. Cut out of three sides by sheers, the promontory constituted an easy keep to defend in insecure times.

Legend and history

La Breche au Diable, Natural Site of Normandy


The legend
The history attributes to the devil himself the paternity of this great site.
Indeed, Saint Quentin retired there to live his isolated life. He wanted to help the population that struggled always with the caprices of Laizon river. To open a passage to the water of the small stream, he did a pact with the devil.
If the latter one passed a test, after having opened a break into the rock, he would be the master of his soul.
Finally the hermit asked the devil to wash a fleece in the small stream, but it was a fleece of goat and the evil couldn’t give him the whiteness of the lamb.
This permitted Saint Quentin to save his soul without renouncing his words.

A little history :
The oldest remains date back to the Paleolithic age, that means about 200 000 a. J. C..
A little shelter under a rock was identified on the southern slope of the plateau in 1882.
Some rare biface were also discovered on the plateau during the searching led by M. B. Edeine in 1954.

These are the testimonies of the oldest frequentation of the site.

During the recent prehistory, about 3500 to 4000 years a. J. C., the agricultural people of the Neolithic age followed spurs.
The first group identified to have something in common with the group of Cerny, he himself comes from the population movement of the Danubians.
For the first time people take profit from natural fortifications and erect a first rampart of the soil to compensate the absence of steeps towards the East.
3000 years a. J.C. the occupation of the site is at its apogee with the civilization of the hunting; its ceramic and lithic production became evident during the excavation.
During this era there is presumably the activity of the extraction of silex in the plain and the brushing blocs.

Useful informations


Visiting the site :

Located 9 km north of Falaise, between the villages of Tassily and Soumont St Quention, the site can be visited all year long (free entrance). A good spot for promenades and picnic along the laizon, but you will need good walking shoes because some areas can be muddy.

Office de tourisme du Pays de Falaise - Boulevard de la Libération - BP 54 - 14700 Falaise - FRANCE - Tél : +33 (0)2 31 90 17 26 - Fax : +33 (0)2 31 90 98 70
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