The Tomb That Faces the Lovers' Rock
One of Europe's largest ancient tombs doesn't face the sunrise, like most. It points straight at a mountain shaped like a sleeping face, where legend says two lovers leapt to their deaths.
What was reported
The Dolmen of Menga, near Antequera in southern Spain, is one of the largest megalithic tombs in Europe, built nearly 6,000 years ago from enormous stone slabs, one weighing about 180 tonnes. Most ancient tombs like it face the rising sun, but Menga points towards a nearby mountain, the Peña de los Enamorados.
The mountain looks like the profile of a human face lying on its back. Its name, 'the Lovers' Rock', comes from a legend of a Christian man and a Muslim woman who, forbidden to be together, threw themselves from its cliffs.
Explanations offered
Archaeologists think the builders aligned the tomb to the mountain because it was sacred to them; remains of rock paintings have been found on it. The legend is much later, from the medieval period. The Antequera dolmens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- When
- Built about 3800 BC
- Where
- Antequera, Málaga, Andalusia, Spain
- Witnesses
- Archaeologists and Andalusian legend
- Status
- Partly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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