We headed out mid afternoon into the hills to the northwest of Siran,
where there is an ancient and a modern quarry. The special reddish marble was used all over France and elsewhere.
The drive up to the quarry from the village, Caunes-Minervois, was punctuated with various modern marble carvings. The village also had plenty of sculptures. (See below).
We walked the first couple kilometers of an interpretive trail that took us past places where marble had been removed, learned How it was cut and transported.
Since we got a late start, the modern quarry was closed. So no tour of that. Also, we just missed getting into The Abbey in Caunes-Minervois.. past closing time, so we checked it out from the outside.
OCT16-153 Totem, in the village at a fork in the road.
OCT16-154 Lion out in quarry land
OCT16-155 Let's see you do this!
OCT16-158 Highly polished modern art
Marble left un-quarried as a demo?
OCT16-157 They evidently cut chunks like this off the quarry wall. CDS Photo.
Red Marble Head
This head was at least 30” across... sitting in the village parking!
OCT16-159 Giant Marble Head!
Marble Elsewhere
I’d bet a boatload of rubble that this slab of red marble in the floor of the church at la Cité Carcassonne came from this quarry.
OCT16-160 Carcassonne church floor and steps.
OCT19-116 Kick base for bar in Tav.
More on the Totem in the Village
These detail shots were gathered on a later trip through the quarry village.
OCT19-103 Base of Totem
OCT19-104 Detail of Totem
OCT19-106 Detail of Totem
OCT19-107 Detail of Totem
OCT19-111 Detail of Totem
OCT19-112 Side view of Totem
OCT19-113 Plaque on Totem
See the main entry for OCT 19 SAT, when we passed back though this town.
Cynthia's souvenir...
Cynthia had seen this bottle stopper on our first time through the village.
She popped back over one evening from Siran to buy it. (Just a few minutes away by car.)
