Standing midway up a hill, overlooking the Algarve coast, the scrubland stretches around you. The power lines above emit a faint hum and you can hear some sounds of work from the nearby quarry. Before you, the battered and scarred stone leans slightly to one side, as if it was tired from its long vigil. It has outlasted its fellows, and remains the sole vestige of a long-gone age of humans.
The menir is a granite obelisk, quite tall and round. It’s cracked in several places and has a large chip taken out of the top – result of a lightning strike? The menir has some wavy “serpentiform” carvings running up and down its length. (They’re very faint: the archaeologists’ portal says it is “without decoration.” Better photos here and here.) It’s officially dated to the Neolithic period, but others say it may have been put up in the Bronze Age. There is an ancient settlement nearby …and some sources say it was Neolithic while others Bronze Age. (Menirs in the Algarve tended to be positioned in or near settlements.)
It was originally part of a group of eight menirs: the others have either been destroyed or “moved for preservation” by the town council of Lagos.
Location
The menir is located in the Algarve region, Faro district. It’s in the Lagos municipality, parish of Bensafrim. The closest village is Portelas, to the south. The menir stands in an open field underneath electricity wires.
Access
About 5km north of Lagos (on the road to Bensafrim), take the first left-turn road (there’s no sign except for a bus stop) after leaving the village of Portelas. Follow the road up the hill until the tarmac runs out, and park along the dirt road. The menir is in the field on the right under the power lines.
Signage
There are no signs directing you to the menir.
Use the map or the GPS coordinates: 37.133377193253835, -8.701493417896671. Or What3Words congas.prompted.brush (in English) or lidas.juntas.realização (in Portuguese).
Links
- Article (in English) from Wikipedia
- Entry (in English) from the Megalithic Portal
- Article (in English) from Tomorrow Algarve (English news journal)
- Description (in Portuguese) from VaiVer (tourist site)
- Entry (in Portuguese) from the municipality of Lagos
- Description (in Portuguese) from Archaeologist’s Portal of Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage
- Description (in Portuguese) by the Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage
Nearby
The Menir de Odiáxere is nearby (about 5km) and there are hundreds of menirs about 26km away in Vila de Bispo.