European Day of Megalithic Culture in Spain – Comarca de Sobrarbe in the Pyrenees
The European Day of Megalithic Culture is celebrated on the last weekend of April. Comarca de Sobrarbe in the Pyrenees (Aragón-Spain) has been part of the European Cultural Itinerary – European Route of Megalithic Culture since 2015. Together with other Spanish and European partners, it works to preserve and raise awareness of this heritage, of which Sobrarbe has important sites. To commemorate this day, all the members of the Council of Europe Cultural Itinerary “Megalithic Routes” organise activities in different regions of Europe during these days.
The Sobrarbe-Pyrenees UNESCO World Geopark is organising an interesting guided tour to the “Labasar circles”. This is a set of megalithic monuments in the Collata de Labasar (Chistau Valley). The day will conclude with an interpreted walk to the Basa de La Mora. In this way, we will visit two very important sites of the cultural and natural heritage of Sobrarbe, located in the municipality of Plan.
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.
During the activity. we will also visit the Basa de la Mora or Ibón de Plan, a natural site of great value and beauty, the protagonist of some of the most emblematic legends in Sobrarbe.
“Megaliths, past and present
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 talk about 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.
