Standing sentinel above the fields around Sagres and Vila do Bispo, the conical menir (the common English term is “menhir“) seems the solitary example of prehistoric megalithic construction in the area. But look more closely in the area, and you will find remnants of its original neighbours. Look around again and imagine the area dotted with standing stones. What a sight it would have been for people here over six thousand years ago!
The Menir de Padrão is the only standing stone in the region that has been re-erected, but there was originally a group of fifteen standing stones. This may have been a cromlech.1 All the menires were carved from white limestone into cylindrical or conical or similar shapes. They range from about half a meter to 3 meters in height. They were constructed during the Early and Middle Neolithic (5500 – 4500 BC)2. The menires were originally identified by E. Prescott Vicente and A. Silveira Martins in 1979, and they were excavated by Mário Varela Gomes in the 1980s.
The “Menir do Padrão” (which is #1 in this group) is the only one that has been re-erected.
The others were all found fallen and often broken, and so they remain. They are not identified with markers, and many may be hidden by the surrounding vegetation.
Some of the menires showed decorations, including cup marks and other carvings. Menir 8 showed wavy lines. (Serpentiform?)
In the group, menir #9 is very distinctive and has been the focus of its own research.5
Menir 9 is lying on its side and broken, like many others. But it is lying on a 5m wide stone tumulus (tomb structure). Excavation of this structure allowed the identification of fragments of stone tools and fragments of prehistoric ceramic vessels, shells, and more8.
Location
In the Algarve region, district of Faro. The site is in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the parish of Vila do Bispo and Raposeira.
The coordinates for the Menir (#1) do Padrão are: 37.062697, -8.888366
Access
The main menir (#1) is right beside the road, M1257. There are parking areas along the road. The other menires are scattered in the area around the spot (the ones I found were on the other side of the road from menir 1). There is no fence blocking off the fields on the other side of the road from menir 1.
Signage
There is no sign indicating the Menires of Padrão. There are signs in Raposeira (on the road between Lagos and Sagres) directing you to the “Monumentos Megalíticos,” which includes the Menires of Milrei. There is another sign at the top of Milrei hill, but you will need to continue 700 meters down the hill towards the sea to reach the Menir do Padrão. There is an information plaque next to the Menir do Padrão, but no information about the other menires.
Links
- Article (in Portuguese) from Wikipedia
- Entry (in English) in the Megalithic Portal
- Blog post (in Portuguese) by archaeologist Ricardo Soares
- Walking trail with PDF map (in English) from the Via Algarviana
- Description (in Portuguese) from Archaeologist’s Portal of Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage
- Entry (in Portuguese) in the database of the Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage
Nearby
The Menir do Padrão is the only erected menhir of this group. There are also the nearby Menires of Milrei, which are all fallen. You can find out a lot of information about these megaliths (and more!) from the Museum of Vila do Bispo (“O Celeiro da História”), about 5km away.
Sources
- Costeiro, C. “Portal Do Arqueólogo.” Patrimoniocultural.pt, 2018, arqueologia.patrimoniocultural.pt/index.php?sid=sitios&subsid=53226. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026. ↩︎
- Gomes, Mário Varela. (1994). Menires e cromeleques no complexo cultural magalitico português. Trabalhos recentes e estado da questão. Actas do seminario “O Megalitismo no centro do Portugal” (Mangualde, 1992). Estudos Prehistoricos. 2. 317-342. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288559615_Menires_e_cromeleques_no_complexo_cultural_magalitico_portugues_Trabalhos_recentes_e_estado_da_questao_Actas_do_seminario_O_Megalitismo_no_centro_do_Portugal_Mangualde_1992. Accessed 15 January 2026. ↩︎
- Gomes, Mário Varela. “Megalitismo Do Barlavento Algarvio – Breve Síntese.” Setúbal Arqueológica, vol. 11-12, 1997, pp. 147–190, maeds.amrs.pt/publicacoes/setubal-arqueologica#faq-9. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026. ↩︎
- GOMES, Mário Varela, SILVA, Carlos Tavares da e MARTINS, Isilda Maria Pires (1987). Levantamento arqueológico do Algarve: concelho de Vila do Bispo. Lisboa: Delegaçao Regional do Sul. S.E.C. https://www.academia.edu/124029507/Levantamento_arqueol%C3%B3gico_Vila_do_Bispo Accessed 15 January 2026. ↩︎
- Gomes, Mário Varela. —. “Padrão 9 (Vila Do Bispo). Um Monumento Singular Do Barlavento Algarvio.” Xelb, vol. 8, no. I, 25 Oct. 2007, pp. 75–102, www.academia.edu/25159350/Padrao_9_Vila_do_Bispo. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026. ↩︎
- Gomes, “Barlavento Algarvio” 1997 ↩︎
- Gomes, “Barlavento Algarvio” 1997 ↩︎
- Gomes, “Padrão 9 (Vila Do Bispo)” 2007 ↩︎