Boost for Carnac’s new Unesco bid

Brittany's astonishing prehistoric heritage – with Carnac’s alignment of nearly 4,000 standing stones and more than 550 sites in southern Morbihan – have been recognised by the Culture Ministry as worthy of being presented to Unesco for its list of World Heritage sites.

The move to recognise the ‘exceptional universal value’ of the sites, scattered across 26 communes and dating back 6,000 years, allows Pays­ages de Mégalithes de Car­nac et du sud Mor­bihan project to take a step closer to being proposed to Unesco for approval.

France puts forward suitable projects each year to Unesco and the Paysages committee must now prepare a management plan that will preserve the sites for the future.

Fears over the possible stifling effect of this management plan bedevilled earlier efforts in 1996 to get Carnac listed along with concerns that it could be turned into a type of Disneyland.

Now Jean-Baptiste Goulard, the managing director of the project, said they must define the perimeter of the heritage area and show its credibility and why it should be proposed ahead of other sites like the D-Day beaches, Mont Blanc or the historic centre of Sarlat.