Construction of menhir Néolithique (≈ 4100 av. J.-C.)
Estimated period of block erection.
1860
First written entry
First written entry 1860 (≈ 1860)
Reported by Abbé Barger, local priest.
1889
Historical monument classification
Historical monument classification 1889 (≈ 1889)
Official protection by the French State.
1965
Travel to Municipal Park
Travel to Municipal Park 1965 (≈ 1965)
Transferred from the gravel to the town hall.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Menhir dit La Pierreffite, in the park of the town hall (cad. E 93): ranking by list of 1889
Key figures
Abbé Barranger - Curé de Villeneuve-le-Roi
Reported the menhir in 1860.
Jules Godefroy - Landowner
Offered the menhir to the commune in 1965.
Origin and history
The menhir known as La Pierreffite (or Pierre-Fitte) is a nearly rectangular mill block, 1.90 m wide and 1.23 m thick, with a variable height between 1.50 m and 2.80 m depending on the sources. Its shape is flat on one side and curved on the other, and its weight is estimated at 14 tons. Originally, it was buried deep in a gravel near the Seine, on an island of the low plain of Villeneuve-le-Roi (Val-de-Marne).
Signed in 1860 by the local parish priest Abbé Barger, the menhir was listed as a historic monument in 1889. Threatened by the exploitation of the gravels, it was offered to the commune in 1965 by Jules Godefroy, owner of the land, provided it was erected in a public square. He was then moved to the town hall park, where he is still in.
The Pierreffite illustrates the neolithic occupation of the region, during which menhirs were probably used as markers or symbols for agricultural communities. Its displacement in the 20th century reflects efforts to preserve the heritage in the face of the increasing industrialisation of the Seine.
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