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Origin and history

La Pierre de la Fee is a dolmen located in the municipality of Draguignan, Var. Ranked a historic monument since 1889, it has been the subject of several restorations, notably in 1951, where a concrete sole was added to strengthen the slabs and a secular oak was cut to preserve the building. During the excavations of 1844, funerary objects were discovered, including a flint arrow point, bone buttons and a lead bead, as well as human bones without a trace of combustion, except a skull fragment.

In 1951, the last restoration collected an additional archaeological material: about twenty pearls in various materials (calcary, callai, lignite, serpentine), a spit of deer pierced and three opercules of Pomatias elegans snail. These artifacts were dated to the Chalcolithic, also known as the copper age. The dolmen, now partially preserved, retains only two orthostats and a bedside slab, measuring between 2.20 m and 2.40 m high, as well as a monumental 20 ton cover table.

In 1975, a blasting attack damaged the monument, perpetrated by a resident of Draguignan in protest against the transfer of the Var de Draguignan prefecture to Toulon in 1974. This event marked the recent history of the site. According to a local legend, sterile women came there to invoke the fairy Esterelle to get a pregnancy, illustrating the symbolic importance of dolmen in popular culture.

The dolmen consists of local limestone, with a 6 m long cover table, 4.70 m wide and 0.58 m thick. Its name inspired contemporary places in Draguignan, such as a retirement home and a bus stop. Successive excavations and restorations have helped to better understand its funeral use and evolution over the millennia.

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