THESE eerie looking figures are the first in an extraordinary 50-year project to create a £10-million (US$14.65-million) “Easter Island” of 1,000 statues in a remote valley in France.

    The intricately carved monoliths — each nearly 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall and made from granite — are slowly taking over a country valley in Brittany.

    The statues recognize the area’s local Catholic saints and rich Celtic heritage, and the project is inspired by the statues of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and the Moai of Easter Island.

    Some 64 of the statues currently stand in the valley with artists from all over the world working on their construction.

    Each one takes around a month to make, and costs £10,000.

    Breton philosopher Philippe Abjean founded the site near Morlaix in northwest France — where each of the individual statues comes with their own legend. St. Pol De Leon is said to have fought a dragon that was terrorizing a Breton island, while St. Melor was supposed to have a prosthetic silver hand that could perform miracles.

    The valley — called “La Vallee des Saints” or “Valley of Saints” — relies solely on charitable donations to pay for each individual structure, because there is no funding from entry fees or local or national governments.

    Sofiane Belhoul, a guide at the valley, said, “At first it was difficult raising the money, but as the statues have become well-known it has become easier.”

    Indeed, locals in towns around Brittany have provided some of the donations because they either want to pay respect to some of the saints, or have a child or grandchild with the same name.

    Belhoul, 27, said, “There are two rules. The first is that the Saint must be a Breton Saint, and the second is the Saints must have lived in Brittany between the 3rd and 10th century.”

    (SD-Agencies)