Almendras

This journey included a slow, careful progress on rutted dirt roads surrounded by cattle and cork trees. I was honestly surprised to arrive at the monuments and find a little parking area with a few cars already there. This megalithic enclosure dates to the Neolithic period (Almendres is the name of the estate where it's located and cromlech means circle of standing stones). Originally constructed around 6000 BCE, it was added to and repositioned over the millenia. Like standing stones in other regions, it seems to be aligned with solar and lunar cycles. A few of the stones are carved with lines or circles. I loved that you could just wander around in the quiet, touching the stones and thinking of the past.Read more