ANTEQUERA DOLMENS
Amazing views and rock formations
WORLD HERITAGE SITE
The Antequera Dolmens Site is a cultural heritage ensemble comprising three cultural monuments - the Dolmen of Menga, Dolmen of Viera and Tholos of El Romeral - and 2 natural mountain features - the Peña de los Enamorados and El Torcal.
The Sierra del Torcal or El Torcal is a small mountain range separating the cities of Antequera and Málaga. It has four geological sections: Sierra Pelada, Torcal Alto, Torcal Bajo and Tajos and Laderas. The highest point in El Torcal is Camorro de las Siete Mesas (1336 m) in the Torcal Alto.
The amazing limestone rock formations were formed during the Jurassic age limestone about 150 million years ago. They were laid down in a marine corridor that extended from the Gulf of Cádiz to Alicante between the present Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. These seabeds were uplifted to an elevation of over 1300 meters during the Tertiary era, resulting in a modest mountain range of flat-lying limestone, which is rare in Andalucia. Later, a series of fractures, cracks and faults at right angles were exposed by erosion and produced the alleys between the large blocks of limestone that we see today. The blocks themselves have been subjected to both dissolution by water (karstification) and freeze-thaw splitting action which, working on the limestone’s horizontal beds, resulted in the various shapes which resemble, and have been named after, everyday objects such as the Sphinx, the Jug, the Camel, the Screw, etc..
The three megalithic monuments - the Dolmen of Menga, Dolmen of Viera and Tholos of El Romeral - reflect a stage of human history in which the first ceremonial monuments in Western Europe were built, according to the two major building traditions of megalithic art - the lintel and beehive. This is an unusual proposal on the List of World Heritage Sites as it is not being put forward as a mixed heritage site, in which its cultural value would be added to its natural value, but as an integration and close dialogue between the megalithic architecture and the landscape. A phenomenon of "landscape monumentalization" has occurred here by which the natural landmarks acquire the value of monuments while the manmade constructs present the appearance of a natural landscape.
PLACES TO STAY
PLACES TO EAT AND DRINK
El Kiosko
Parque Ardales, Pantano El Chorro
Restaurante El Mirador Ardales
Parque de Ardales Zona Cuarta
COPYRIGHT 2019 © Francisca de Agustin Romo and Michael Lindsay Orr