Évora, Portugal, Sept. 19, 2024 (Lusa) - The Almendres Cromlech in Évora, one of Europe's most important megalithic sites, has reopened to the public after conservation works and now has new visiting rules to protect and safeguard the monument.
In a statement released on Thursday, Évora Town Hall announced that the cromlech ‘is once again open to the public, following the conclusion of the conservation works carried out over the last year’ by the municipality, in partnership with the local authority and the Pro-Évora Group.
However, the Almendres Cromlech, classified as a national monument and considered ‘one of the most important megalithic monuments on the Iberian Peninsula’, and even in Europe, now has ‘new rules for visitors that aim to reduce the impact of erosion on the soil’ for its ‘protection and safeguarding’, the municipality emphasised.
‘To improve the experience of enjoying the space inside the megalithic enclosure and minimising the impact of trampling by visitors, a visitor circuit has been created,’ it explained.
An intervention to rehabilitate the access route to the enclosure is also planned ‘for the end of this year’, he added.
During the conservation work, the municipality's archaeology team ‘identified a probable new menhir, bringing the number of known monoliths in the largest megalithic enclosure on the Iberian Peninsula to 95’.
‘It was toppled over and almost completely covered by vegetation, the cleaning of which allowed us to confirm the discovery,’ said the council, pointing out that it was “a small granite monolith around 1.3 metres, similar to those found on the east side of the monument”.
Cromeleque dos Almendres, whose private land the owners gave to the council through a loan agreement, is located around 12 kilometres from Évora, near the village of Guadalupe.
The archaeological site consists of several megalithic structures, including a cromlech, a menhir, and stones. It was discovered by researcher Henrique Leonor Pina in 1964 when he was surveying the Geological Chart of Portugal.
Évora Câmara also pointed out that the temporary exhibition ‘Do Cabeço da Anta ao Alto das Pedras Talhas’ is still on at the D. Manuel Palace, in the public garden, until 28 October.
This exhibition aims to publicise the process of discovering and researching the Almendres Cromlech and the Zambujeiro Great Dolmen, which are located in the municipality of Évora and are important European megalithic monuments.
The municipality is promoting the Megalithic Equinox initiative this weekend in the village of Valverde to take this exhibition to the surrounding countryside, especially to the communities that have historically been most involved in the study of these monuments.
The activities on offer include a guided tour of the Anta Grande do Zambujeiro, a documentary screening on Saturday, and a celebration of the sunrise on Sunday.
RRL/ADB // ADB.
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