European Day of Megalithic Culture in Sobrarbe (Huesca-Spain)
2023-04-29. The UNESCO Sobrarbe-Pirineos Global Geopark organised an interesting guided tour to the “Labasar circles”. This is a set of megalithic monuments recently signposted in the Collata de Labasar (Chistau Valley). The day was completed with an interpreted walk to the Basa de La Mora or Ibón de Plan. In this way, two very relevant sites of the cultural and natural heritage of Sobrarbe, located in the municipality of Plan, were visited.
Prehistoric stone circles, such as those in “Labasar”, are megalithic monuments from the Bronze and Iron Ages, made up of stones inserted into the ground to create a circular shape. They are usually associated with funerary cremation rituals and often appear in groups, forming a necropolis. In Sobrarbe, the circles of “Los Batanes” and “Labasar” stand out, due to their location in high mountain areas, and the circles of the Cemetery, between the villages of Mediano and Aínsa.
The prehistoric site of the circles of the Collata de Labasar is a splendid group of at least 6 cromlechs located at an altitude of 1932m on a small rounded hill next to the Labasar refuge. They range in size from 7 m. in diameter for the largest to 3.80 m. for the smallest.
The activity also included a visit to the glacial lake known as Basa de la Mora or Ibón de Plan, a natural site of great value and beauty, which has been the protagonist of some of the most emblematic legends in Sobrarbe.
The aim of this day is to invite reflection on the figure of megalithic heritage as a significant element inherited from the first ancestors, from the first people who populated Europe. But it also seeks to disseminate the importance of this heritage as a very current element, which allows the implementation of different initiatives for social, economic and cultural development, while linking it closely with other national and European territories
The Megalithic Culture is characterised by constructions made from large stones, which have become landscape markers that speak of a unity of cultural practices present all over Europe and beyond. Sobrarbe is home to a rich megalithic heritage, with dolmens, circles and burial mounds dotted all over the territory
