15 Jul, 2016 @ 15:49
1 min read

Antequera dolmens receive UNESCO World Heritage status

px Dolmen de Menga Antequera e

800px-Dolmen_de_Menga_Antequera20THE Antequera dolmens have officially received UNESCO World Heritage status.

The UN cultural agency had been gathered in Istanbul to decide whether or not the elaborate structures, dating back to between 5,000 and 22,000 BC, were worthy of the label.

The Dolmens are an ensemble of megalithic monuments  made up of the Menga and Viera dolmens and the tholos of El Romeral.

They are described as outstanding examples of megalithic architecture and are among the most recognised and quoted in the world.montelirio-dolmen-castilleja-de-guzman

The Menga Dolmen is famous for its significant geographical location – on the summer solstice, 21 June, the morning sun shines over the peak of the Peña de los Enamorados and straight along the dolmen’s entrance corridor.

The specific positioning would have had mystical importance for the prehistoric tribes who built it.

It is believed the architects were farmers who resided in the Guadalhorce valley during the Neolithic period and copper age.

dolmensIt would have taken the combined effort of several communities to source and transport the stones and to complete the constructions.

They have remained remarkably intact having been built at least 5,000 years ago.

Gibraltar’s Gorham cave has also been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status.

 

Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

GOT A STORY? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 Twitter: @olivepress

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

aur europa dreamliner miami e
Previous Story

Spanish airline calls strike for peak summer period

pokemon go image  e
Next Story

Pokemon Go app finally arrives in Spain

Latest from Environment

Go toTop

More From The Olive Press

Brit panic in Spain as much-loved bacon vanishes from supermarket shelves

BRITISH expats in Spain are up in arms after being

Brits threaten to boycott Spain over ‘Big Brother Law’ for tourists that ‘bites the hand that feeds’

BRITISH holidaymakers have threatened to boycott Spain after it introduced